One of the best items that I have ever seen at an auction that was made by kids was a ceramic piece.
A piece of green ware was purchased from a local ceramic dealer (a platter in this case.) The platter was prepared by an art teacher (or parent) and then the children in kindergarten placed a thumb print on the platter.
It was glazed and fired by the teacher - it was so perfect. It went for over $600.00
What I did for my sons first grade class was buy enough candles from this fundraising company. So not only did we have the candles for the auction but we also got half the money for the candles we sold. Then I took brown paper bads cut them so they were round and would go around the candles and then I bought straw cord to wrap around the top of the candle.
Anyhow the kids decorated the paper bags and we then auctioned them off. These would also be great for presents to their parents for Christmas. You win not only with the auction, but buying them through a fundraising company.
Last year all of our kinder classes did mosic on the inside of birdbaths. Then on the outside the did bugs with their thumb prints. CUTE! Everyone was bidding on them.
I really like the ideas of the open-ended question books. We are doing a Dinosaur Daze theme for our carnival/auction this year and I was thinking for older grades you could do "Which dinosaur is your parent most like and why." and more simpler ones for younger grades like "what do dinosaurs eat" or "do you like dinosaurs, why?"
These would be fairly easy to make, laminate, and bind. Great idea.
Last years auction at our school was a huge sucess. Large ceramic tiles were used. Each child decorated one according to his/her class' theme. The tiles were fired and then made into tables and used to decorate mirrors. Classes could be combined and work together on one theme. We will be doing this again this year.
Here are a couple of the fun ideas I have seen used for kindergarteners - The teacher or aide asks each student a question like "how to cook a turkey" or "how doe you parents exercise"....let your imagination roll on these...some parents will buy the books to keep others from reading...heh heh...
Norman O'Neal
Professional Auctioneer
Frederick, MD
