EVENTS – Make your own fair games
Abberley Primary Friends’ Association, Abberley, Worcestershire ‘I put my woodwork
Topple the teacher You will need a small number of clean, empty tin cans, good quality portrait photographs of the teachers and a small rubber or foam ball. Clean the cans and ensure there are no sharp edges. Then print the images in colour and stick them to the cans. To assemble, stack the cans in a pyramid shape and mark a throwing line a reasonable distance away; adjust it based on the players’ age and skill levels. Participants throw the ball, aiming to knock down as many cans as possible. Award points based on the number of cans toppled, with a special prize for anyone who gets them all. Other versions include topple the PTA members, topple the school subjects and topple the footballers.
hobby to good use’ My son asked me to build some games for the fair at his school. But I’m not a parent there – Peter is the headteacher. It’s not the fi rst time I’ve been involved in school events, either. I have a workshop, and I’m handy with woodwork, so I’ve made many items for him in the past, including stocks and coconut shies for his previous school. Although I am a retired management consultant,
woodwork has been a long-time hobby of mine. My brother was an apprentice woodworker, and I spent a lot of time watching him. Over the years, I’ve built wardrobes and various other items for our home. For this particular fair, I only had six weeks to get
everything ready. Peter wanted some tabletop games to use in the hall. First and foremost, I had to identify games that would generate revenue and then make sure they were transportable and storable. I researched the games online – one I found is
called cornhole, a North American game that involves tossing beanbags into a six-inch hole on a board. As well as cornhole, I made Play Your Cards Right, a
lollipop stand (which has 200 holes drilled in a platform for lollipops), and splat the rat. I bought some plywood and glued and screwed it all together using equipment I already owned, such as table saws, a desk saw, routers and nail guns. I painted the games, but you could use coloured tape instead. At the fair, I ran the cornhole stall. It was inspiring
Friends of Wheelock School, Sandbach, Cheshire
to see parents cheering on their children and encouraging them. When the fair ended, the business manager told me that the games had generated a profi t of about £600. The school reimbursed my expenses, and I have just bought some more wood so I can get started on new games. I’m keen to make a pig racing game and another set of stocks. My son can tell you how much the children enjoy throwing sponges at their headteacher! Ken Phillips, St. Luke’s C of E primary school, Shireoaks, Nottinghamshire (185 pupils)
School Fundraising SUMMER 2025 35
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