Author: klarinc

Everyone loves some friendly competition! What better way to bring fun into the office than with Office Olympics? This is a great way to get everyone up from their desks and out enjoying some sun.

Start the nine to five with some of our competition pieces like Pedestal Joust or Human Hamster Balls.

You might want to take it old school with some Funathalon games. See what department is the strongest with tug-of-war or which managers are the fastest at 3 legged races.

Cool off from the summer heat with a dunk tank. Challenge each other to see who can dunk the boss first!

With summer comes good cookin’, so bring in the heat with a BBQ cooking contest!

Break up the workday with some of these fun office party ideas. It’s a great way to get everyone out and enjoying the summer sun.

It’s that time of the year again! The shorts are on and the sun is coming out, it’s time to get ready for that summer bash. Whether it’s a BBQ, birthday party, or even vacation bible school, we have just what you need to get the party started.

You might enjoy a fun bounce house like our Safari Bus Moonwalk or maybe you’ll want to cool off with our Surf-N-Slide!

Our cornhole and ladder ball are great yard games to add some fun.

It is never too early to fire up the grill with some hamburgers and hot dogs! Spend some quality time with your family and friends with a water balloon fight or tug of war. Summer is a busy time of the year, so these are a few great ways to slow down and spend some time with loved ones.

Tell us your fun ideas to get the party started! We would love to hear them.

SCHOOL CARNIVAL

What kid doesn’t love walking around with that giant teddy bear they won at the toughest carnival game? Putting on a school carnival is a great way to get students and families involved in supporting your school. This also gives children the chance to make fond memories; for example, the time they got to throw a pie in their principal’s face or soaked their favorite teacher in one of our dunk tanks! With Fun Services you can choose to sell tickets, wristbands or simply rent items from us for your carnival. Check the Fun Services School Carnival page for more ideas! https://funservicesneia.com/school-events/carnivals/

HOLIDAY GIFT SHOP

Fun Services is the original creator of the Holiday Gift Shop or Santa’s Secret Shop. We’ve been doing this for nearly 50 years! Many parents even remember having a shop at their school when they were little tykes. Our Holiday Gift Shops teach students the importance of saving-up and also the gift of giving. Students can choose from a variety of ‘kid friendly’ products at all different price levels. Many items are specifically for moms, dads, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas and even pets! Fun Services supplies the product to sell at your shop. Most PTAs choose to mark up the product to make a nice profit for the school. Visit our Holiday Gift Shop page to learn more! https://funservicesneia.com/school-events/santas-shop/

SCHOOL/COMMUNITY-WIDE FUNDRAISER

Fun Services offers many different fundraising options for schools all over Nebraska and Iowa. Many schools we work with choose to do a traditional food brochure fundraiser. These brochures can include anything from frozen cookie dough, to pizzas and kitchen supplies. If you’re looking for an easy fundraiser, $1 candy bars and pretzels could be the way to go!  A Poinsettia and Christmas Cactus fundraiser is also very popular during the holiday season. These plants are beautiful quality and hand delivered to your church, school or dance team doorstep.

FUN RUN

Fun Runs or Jog-a-Thons have grown in popularity over the last few years. This is a great event that gets students active and teaches them how to be part of a team. Your PTO can raise even more money by asking area businesses to be a Fun Run Sponsor. The sponsor name can be listed in your marketing materials or even on the T-shirts each kid wears during the run. Have students ask their relatives and neighbors for donations to help support their team in the run. All proceeds would go to the school and can be distributed between classrooms for items such as new text books or computers. A Fun Run works best when a ton of school spirit is mixed in—encourage classrooms to come up with their own team cheers to use during the run! Maybe even make the PE teacher do a victory lap in the school’s mascot uniform! Check out more info on PTO today https://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/615-organizing-a-fun-run

LOCAL PARTNERS

Many PTAs coordinate ‘restaurant nights’ or ‘family night out’ where students and their families can eat out at a local restaurant together. In many cases those restaurants agree to donate a percentage of your bill back to the school. Fun Services has recently partnered with TAGG, a company that connects local business with area schools and non-profits. TAGG is an app you can download that allows customers to take a photo of their receipt at local businesses and restaurants, and those businesses will donate a percentage of your bill directly to the school PTA. Go to TAGG’s website to find out more http://www.togetheragreatergood.com/

Thinking about throwing a Casino Party?!? Here are some tips you won’t want to miss!

For some people, a high rolling Las Vegas vacation is one of the greatest pleasures of life. The glitz and glamour of the shows, the endless amounts of food and drink and the thrill of gaming in the casino hot spot of the world makes it one of the top vacation getaways on the planet. But not everyone can throw down a few thousand bucks every time they get the itch to sit at a blackjack table and try their luck. For this reason, casino night parties have become very popular. From frat parties to office soirees, hosting a casino night can be a lot of fun — if you do it right. Here are some tips to make sure that your casino night event goes down without a hitch.

1. Pick a Theme – Las Vegas casinos are all about themes so your casino night event shouldn’t be any different. If you have a few bucks to spend on décor, consider paying homage to one or more of the iconic Vegas casinos to give your party a fun edge. Caesar’s Palace is one of the most famous casino brands in the world, so think about decking out your gaming room with some nods to ancient Rome. The same goes for the MGM Grand, the Flamingo and even newer casinos like Paris or New York, New York. You can go with one central theme or divide your room up into zones to feature multiple motifs. Your guests will appreciate the extra effort when your bartender is dressed like Julius Caesar.
2. Make Sure you Have Enough Tables – The worst thing that could happen is not having enough spots for your guests to have fun! Fun Services takes the number of people you are expecting at your event and divides it in half, and then divides by 9. That gives you a good start on how many tables you will need! Make sure to offer your guests a variety of tables to choose from!
3. Have Great Prizes! Just like in Vegas…everyone wants to walk away a winner! To stir up excitement for the event, gather some great prizes that will spark attention! You can have guests exchange their winnings for raffle tickets or even award the top 3 winners.
4. Offer Food and Drinks! Who doesn’t love the buffets and drinks in Vegas? Whether this is a day or evening event, it’s always a good idea to offer food and drink to your guests. If you are choosing to have a sit down meal, Fun Services suggests waiting until that is over to start gambling. If you choose to have heavy appetizers, those are a great break from the gambling!

These tips help answer most of the questions we get about casino parties, but we are always here to help! Give our office a call at (402) 393-7393 and we can help you start planning the FUN today! You will definitely hit the Jackpot with Fun Services!

What is the one tradition that all kids and adults love at their school? A Carnival!  Carnivals are well attended family events.  They are great because your PTO/PTA can customize a carnival to your community.  Making a carnival a success can be an overwhelming job, but with help from other volunteers and a good “to-do” list – it will be easy as pie!   For a unforgettable school carnival – Fun Services has the following suggestions:

1. Assemble a Committee – Take a look at some creative parents within your PTA organization or even people who not members of the PTA yet and ask them to volunteer. You will want committee chairs for food, games and logistics.
2. Do you want to make money? Carnivals are often fundraisers but sometimes the goal is just to provide a fun event for the school. Establish your goal before meeting with your committee so everyone is on board.
3. Talk about a theme. Will a theme work for your carnival? Luau, Harvest Festival, Halloween, or Sports are great themes for carnivals. But sometimes, a traditional carnival is best with games, cakewalk, an obstacle course, bounce house, face painting, or even a photo booth.
4. Choose your location. Will your event be indoors, outdoors or both? If the event is held outdoors – make sure you have a rain plan in case of bad weather. So, you will need to make creative use of your space.  Games can be placed in hallways or classrooms.
5. Check on Insurance Coverage – If your PTA in insured, find out if the policy covers carnivals. Fun Services is happy to list your school and PTA as additionally insured for your school carnival – at no cost to you!
6. Volunteers! You will need lots of volunteers to run your events. Keep in mind that some parents will want to participate in the carnival with their children. If this is the case – split the work into shifts!  Some PTAs find teachers that or willing to help or reach out to a nearby high school to see if the students will volunteer!
7. Talk about food. Everyone’s favorite topic! You can hire a company to provide the class carnival food – hot dogs, hamburgers, cotton candy or snow cones. Or you work with the committee to get things donate and make the food yourself!  Don’t forget to include drinks and desserts!  When trying to decide how much food to prepare assumer everyone will arrive ready to eat! Make sure to keep great records from year’s past so you know how much to buy.
8. Figure out games and prizes. Standard go-to games include a cakewalk, ring ross, duck pond, and other games. Decide if you want to award prizes for the games.  You can either award prizes at the games or have a large redemption center where children can redeem prizes that they win throughout the night! Fun Services is happy to provide the prizes for you on a consignment basis – we will take back the leftovers and you are only charged for what you use!

These tips help answer most of the questions we get about carnivals, but we are here to help! Give our office a call at (402) 393-7393 and we can help start planning the FUN today! Your carnival is guaranteed to be a success with Fun Services!

From The Association of Fund Raisers and Direct Sellers:

• Establish a clear financial goal before evaluating products, programs, etc. — knowing how much money you need to raise will help make these decisions easier.
• Don’t let your organization’s profits be eaten away by “hidden” costs (e.g. for freight, prizes, overruns) — ask questions ahead of time and make the necessary adjustments.
• Select your fundraising program early to assure ample time for planning. If the school or community has a planning calendar, be sure your event is included. Stagger fundraising activities to avoid competing with other groups.
• Set a specific beginning and ending date for your fundraiser and stick to it — without a clear target date the campaign will drag on, often without direction.
• Avoid “fundraising fatigue” among parents and volunteers by conducting fewer programs that are more effective individually.
• Rely on your product fundraising company professional for suggestions and advice.
• Don’t let your program fizzle — some organizers will lose interest once a program begins; stay motivated until the end to assure success. Put a time limit on order-taking. Usually 10-14 days is more than enough.
• Keep energy levels high by communicating before, during and after the program — remind parents, teachers and other volunteers of the fundraiser’s goals and deadlines, provide frequent status reports and updates.
• Avoid shipping and ordering problems by working closely with volunteers to assure that all order forms are legible and filled out completely.
• Keep copies of all forms turned in by volunteers before sending them to the fundraising company.
• Assure efficient handling of products by recruiting adult volunteers ahead of time to help distribute the products to volunteers.
• Don’t forget to communicate with absentees who miss the program’s kick-off or other important meetings.
• Have fun! With the right approach, fundraising can be educational and enjoyable for everyone

© Copyright 2000 the Association of Fund Raisers and Direct Sellers