Ours is about $750. That just started last year. Before that, it was $100. Last year, we raised money for a huge inflatable obstacle course and plan on doing that again. Other than that, we supply popsicles for the cooling station and lunch in the cafeteria for the volunteers that choose to eat there. Most don't. There's only about 5 volunteers in the morning and 5 in the afternoon, so everyone just leaves or eats before they get there.
T-Shirts are offered but they are purchased by the parents. No way we could buy them but it's a nice thought. It's competition free, just for fun, so there aren't medals or awards.
Don't be alarmed, but our budget for the day is $6000.00
We purchase tshirts for the students to wear--different colors for the different teams.
We have the relay races so the kids spend time outside having fun with the silly games. Lunch is a BBQ that the PTO purchases and parents BBQ ourselves. Lunch ends with an ice cream or italian ice truck coming.
The kids spend time with the DJ dancing and doing games and we also have an assembly. Last year was a majician and the year before that was a Simon Sez master. So between the tshirts, BBQ food/treat, DJ & assembly our budget runs high. However, every kid benefits and we have a ton of parents show up for the day to help out, chapperone or just cheer on their kids.
Your budget depends on how much you provide and how long your day is. Some schools have 2 or 3 hours only. Ours is the full day. The more you have, you need to create a schedule so the grade levels rotate around. You can't have everyone at one spot at the same time or it won't work.
I was just curious how much money other schools spend on Field Day and what items are purchased. I have a budget of about $1,500 for this year, which would include Field Day kits, gold medals, snacks and juice, and new games. We haven't spent this much in years, but this year we are revamping the entire day. Is this too much to spend? Thank you so much.
