You don't do all 30 at one time do you? Do you break it into groups? How much jello did you have to make [img]redface.gif[/img] ) I bet it was ALOT! This seems like SO much fun! Thank you!
Basically, we have kids eat a pile of jello without their hands. First finished wins. I think we run a few heats in order to get more kids involved. We have 30 classrooms, so we have one student per class, randomly selected from the presubmitted permission slips. Each grade level winner goes up against the others in the finals (bigger pile of jello). Keep a box of wipes close by for the sticky faces. we aware a little prize and put their name/photo in the newsletter. The runners up each get a box of green jello.
I'm curious about how you do the jello eating contest? Love your bingo ideas! I am putting together a Happy Hearts Night at our school and I am looking for unique ideas!
We run 2 family bingo's per year. Also on a half day and it starts right after school. It runs from 12:30- 3:00pm. We serve hot dogs, chips, soda, juice and desserts. Our Principal is always the caller and he loves that job! Whether you win a game or not, every child leaves with a gift. This is always a sold out event at our school!
We've had 3 or 4 very successful bingo nights. After our first one, we invested in hard, slider window bingo cards. At about $3.50 each, they are a little pricey, but we'll be able to use them for years and they don't require chips, markers, or crayons. We've sold food in the past, but this year we're including a simple meal with the free ticket (this is a family give-back event). We rent a large lighted bingo board and the bingo numbers which runs us about $150. It's worth the $ to be able to show the called numbers that way (we have 400 people at our event). Prizes are awarded for each bingo, and only kids can win and only up to 2 prizes (we mark their hands). Our volunteers roam the crowd handing out (grab-bag) prizes after checking the bingo. After about an hour, we have a jello-eating contest on the stage to break up the evening. The last game of the night is "sit down" bingo. The last 10 or so students who are standing win a pizza lunch with the principal. We run it 6-8 pm on a Friday and are cleaned up and out by 8:45. Fun evening. Now read on....
I don't want to rain on the parade, but you should know what your state's laws are regarding the playing of bingo with minors. It sounds so stupid in light of how most PTOs run bingo night, but the government views bingo as a form of gambling and regulates it strictly. Laws vary from state to state, and even may be regulated locally.
At first, we sorta ignored the printed rules. Finally, after no longer feeling it was right to conduct what might be an "illegal" gaming activity, we called the state gaming office directly. Surely there had to be a provision for a PTO to have a family-oriented bingo night without getting in trouble. It took some prodding, but the director finally offered that as long as we don't charge admission, and the work is done by volunteers, we didn't need a license and the kids could play. That provision wasn't obvious in the printed license rules, so don't take your state's application for gospel without calling and speaking to someone in an authority position.
Our first was last January and our second is this month. We loved it. Very easy. The woman who ran ours does Bingo for Birthday parties so we didn't even have to worry about getting the cards. You could just copy a bunch though. We used crayons to color in the squares. We have prizes for all the kids. Every child gets a ticket to start and then they win tickets when they win a game. They also get tickets through out for different things like if they have a certain number, next birthday, etc. At the end, they line up from greatest number of tickets to least and then all get to walk by the prize table to pick things. We don't get expensive prizes just shop all the sales. This is a great time of the year for that. We are selling drinks and snacks this year and might have a 50/50 raffle for parents. EVeryone loved it last year.
