School Fundraising Resources
Easy and Fun Fundraising Ideas For The Classroom!
Thank you for your interest in involving your class in fundraising for the Easter Seals Ambassador Tour on Prince Edward Island.
This web site section has been designed to make it easy for you to come up with easy and fun fundraising ideas for your classroom!
We plan on adding information to this page over time to include more useful information and tools so please check back periodically for updates!
For more information on Easter Seals in general, to follow us on Twitter of Facebook, for information on projects we have funded in the past, or what is going on in the campaign right now please click the blog or home button!
Here’s a list of some ideas of what other children have done to raise funds for Easter Seals! Let us know what you’re up to and we can Tweet it or Face book it !
Fundraising ideas
- Sell tickets to win lunch with the principal
- Dress-up days, students pay $1.00 to dress up for the day.
- Crazy hat day
- Pajamas day
- Disco day
- Hawaiian day
- Superhero day
- Country & Western day
- Easter basket raffle (filled with spring toys)
- Set up an obstacle course in the gym and sell tickets for e.g. 25¢
- Sell Easter grams; friendly messages printed on colourful paper eggs that can be delivered to classrooms at lunch
- Host a penny parade
- Issue a fundraising challenge to the students, if they meet it the principal does something out of character
- Chores for change – have kids do chores around the house, in the yard or for their neighbours and take it into school
- Have a Bake Sale, Lemonade or Popcorn Stand and raise money for the kids. Make posters and let people know you are helping children with disabilities gain abilities.
- Fill The Jar: Fill a jar with jellybeans or smarties and have your friends pay to guess how many there are in the jar. The money raised will help the kids and the winner wins the candy!
- Have a ?ATHON – Walk-a-thon, Skip-a-thon, Hula Hoop-a-thon: Choose a date and a place/route, contact us for pledge forms, and make some posters. Have everyone who wants to participate ask for donations or pledges using the pledge forms.
- Band and choir concerts: Ask your school band or choir to donate their time by performing a benefit concert for the kids. Ask for a donation for admission to the event.
- Provide a service for donations: Rake leaves, take care of a pet and ask the person who benefited from your service for a donation towards the kids.
- Have a birthday party! Ask your parent’s first. Invite your friends to your birthday party and instead of bringing a gift they could make a donation in honour of your birthday.
- Sports Teams / Band classes– issue a challenge to sports teams/bands within the school to see which can raise the most money
- Issue a challenge to teams at different schools to see which can raise the most money
- Challenge a team at another school to raise funds and compete
- The winner gets to present the funds to the ambassador and gets bragging rights.
Penny Drive Fundraising
Here’s an easy and fun fundraising idea suitable for any school or other organization with different classes or groups to set up some competition. It’s called a penny drive. Each class or team competes against the all others. Each class decorates a large jar for their collections. The jars are set up in some accessible place, perhaps outside the school office. Be sure to arrange proper safeguards as necessary. The idea is to earn the most money for your class.
Dollars count FOR your class. Once the competition gets going, you can raise quite a bit of money in small change, adding pennies to your own jar or silver to competitors. It’s great fundraising fun! Every class can be a winner. For example, last place classes get ice cream cones as prizes. The Second place class receives a sundae with whipped cream, syrup, bananas, the works! The class in first place wins a pizza party and sundaes!
Fundraising Variation 1: A school ‘penny war” with the classrooms competing against each other. Jars are placed out side of each classroom at the start of the day and end of the day, with someone monitoring of course. For every penny added to the jar a classroom would receive one point. Every nickel, dime, quarter, added and the class lost points according to the value of the coin. A dollar in the jar and the class lost 100 points. Kids are allowed to place coins and dollars in any jar they want, so they could make a classroom with the most points that day lose points by placing everything but pennies in the jar. Points are posted every day and the money collected in the office at the end of the day where student helpers wrap pennies, nickels, dimes and so forth. At the end of the time week period of the Penny Drive, the class with the most points wins a popcorn/movie party. This can be done in elementary schools but for secondary, it works best if the competing classes are all homerooms.
Fundraising Variation 2: You put one jar in a room for each grade. The jars are used to collect monetary contributions. For every $.10 you award one link in a chain. Each link is a strip of paper cut out and then the ends are stapled forming a circle. Each grade must have a separate color, so that when you hang the chains they can see what grade is winning. It is a great way to make money and the competition level is usually real high.
Fundraising Variation 3: Have the whole school bring in their spare change and keep track of it somewhere (maybe 5 gallon water jugs in the principals office). Think of a way to get people competing for weight (pennies are better) and/or for amount (dimes are better). Allow people to put in bills, but take them to a bank and get change. Have a huge change counting party. (A goal may be 5 pounds of change per youth, or the Easter Seals Ambassador’s weight in change).
Fundraising Variation 4: Divide your group into two teams. Give each team a large container and tell them that the group with the most pennies in their container one or two weeks before the event will be declared the winner. The losing team must serve the winners at a special dinner in their honor. The two teams can get pennies from anyone (people in school, parents, friends, etc.). You could also do this with nickels, dimes or quarters.
Penny Power 2013:
Penny Power for Easter Seals Kids.
How can this be used?
- The fascinating facts on the Cool Penny fact sheet will interest your students. Please read one each day on your morning announcements to remind and encourage kids to bring in their pennies.
- Your science program can be enhanced by the experiments on matter and materials.
- Your history program can invite students to create a time line to demonstrate how the penny changed over time.
- Your art program can integrate art, history, and mathematics in creative activities.
- Your students will develop their social skills by working in groups on penny activities, such as sorting pennies into their different years of minting.
- In all activities, your students will develop awareness about kids who live with physical disabilities.
History of the Canadian Penny
Many people have glass jars and piggybanks filled with pennies and other
coins. The Canadian penny has gone through many changes over time. Its design, size, and mineral content have all changed from the original.
When was the first Canadian penny minted?
- 1858. As Canada struggled toward independence, there was a lot of development and growth. The first settlers used a rich and sometimes confusing mix of French, American, Spanish and British currency. Before 1858, there was paper currency, but Canadian coins did not exist.
Where was the first Canadian penny minted?
- The first Canadian coins were minted at the Heaton Mint, England in denominations of 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, and 20¢. The Countess of Grey made the first bronze cent.
When were Canadian coins made in Canada?
- January 2, 1908 marked the official opening of the Ottawa Branch of Britain’s Royal Mint with the striking of a fifty-cent piece. This historic site on Sussex Drive is still in use today.
- On December 1, 1931, the Royal Canadian Mint was officially placed in Canadian hands, reporting to the Department of Finance. Before this, the mint reported to Britain’s Royal Mint.
- In 1976, the Winnipeg Mint opened. The Winnipeg Mint now makes all circulating coins. The Ottawa Mint makes special coins such as special edition coins and commemorative coins honouring specific people.
Who are the people on the penny?
- The image of our monarch has appeared on every Canadian coin produced by the Royal Canadian Mint since it first began producing Canadian coinage in 1908. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II became Queen in 1952. Over the course of Her Majesty’s 50 year reign, a total of three different versions of her portrait have appeared; the first in 1953, the second in 1965 and the current version, first introduced to Canadians in 1990.
Was the maple leaf always on the penny?
- Yes. Distinctive in Canada’s natural landscape, the maple tree is a rich source of maple syrup and was a major contributor to the development of the forestry industry. The maple leaf coin design was created by Canadian artist G.E. Kruger Gray and was used in coins that were in circulation from 1937 to 1966, from 1968 to 1981, from 1982 to 1996, and from 1997 to the present. To celebrate
Canada’s hundredth birthday in 1967, a special centennial penny was designed featuring a rock dove in flight.
- From 1858 to 1920, the maple leaf wreath appeared on the penny.
- Between 1920 and 1936, there were two maple leaves.
For Morning Announcements
- Did you know that a hummingbird can weigh less than a penny?
- Back in the early 1900’s and late 1800’s Canada’s pennies were large with a diameter of 25.4 mm. To make it easier to carry, the government decided to shrink the penny’s size. Today the penny has a diameter of approximately 19 mm.
- According to a Reader’s Digest poll in 2002, 75% of us stop to pick up pennies from the street. 12% of us will not pick up a penny with the queen’s head down because some superstitious people think it is bad luck.
- Did you know that the first Canadian coins were not even minted in Canada? Prior to 1908, all coins were minted in England at the “Heaton” Mint. This is why all Canadian coins before 1908 bear the “H” Mint mark.
- Did you know that a Canadian Mint study found the average Canadian household has $24 worth of pennies lying around?
- Did you know that it is illegal to deface (put a hole, cut, draw on, etc.) any Canadian currency?
- Did you know that all Canadian pennies minted since 2000 are made mostly of steel? (94% steel, 1.5 nickel, 4.5 copper plating). Before 1997, Canadian pennies were mainly made of copper (95-98%).
Fun Trivia that can be used for class competition, quizzes etc.
(We’ve provided the answers in case you get stuck!)
- Q: How many pennies placed side by side would it take to stretch 1 kilometer?
A: Approximately 5,276 new pennies side by side would measure 1 km.
- Q: How many pennies would it take to touch a 3 meter high ceiling if you stacked pennies in the corner of a room?
A: It would take approximately 2,740 stacked new pennies to touch a 3 meter high ceiling.
- Q: Would you be willing to take an offer to work and earn one penny the first day and then double it every day for thirty days? How much money would you earn after 30 days?
A: Take the offer. If you started with a penny and doubled your earnings every day, you would have $10,737,416.23 after 30 days.
Measuring with Pennies
Purpose:
- To measure the height of various objects
Materials needed:
- 100 pennies
- Ruler
- Various objects such as books, glass jars, etc.
- Recording paper
Procedure:
- Stack a set number of pennies one on top of each other (e.g., 10 pennies) and then use the ruler to measure the height of the stack in centimeters. Record your findings (e.g., 10 pennies = X cm)
- Next, take various objects and measure the height of the object by stacking pennies in a column beside the object until the column is the same height as the object. Record the number of pennies used for each object.
- Using the formula from the first step (10 pennies = X cm) calculate in centimeters the height of the various objects. Record your findings
- Next take the same objects and measure them with your ruler and compare the two sets of measurements.
- See if your calculations match!
Easter Seals Penny Word Search
E I I H T E B A Z I L E N E E U Q R P E
N C N D Y P O W E R F R O T Y R I O A E
S I N D E P E N D E N C E T N A A Y B S
T U E A R V S F E Y A L I P H E S A I K
I D M N T S E M A A C L K C P E C L L C
E N I M T S S L K E I N L I D O S C I H
E O L P E I I N O B L E E G K I C A T D
C S T P H R Y S A P E E E R M P D N Y K
V U I Q P A C S S H M E L B R A C A B Z
N Y A H O I I A W A L E X P J U C D Q D
Q X N Q X D G R M N L Q N S A N C I R P
U T Y N E F E J P P U A R T E M X A D G
U J U O E W T X K K T S I Z E I O N X E
D U T R O P P U S P L E H C I X H M N X
C E V P N Y T B B Q A Q M C N Q U I D C
E G N A H C E V I T I S O P Z A T N J L
I D H K E R A R B W V H P L S V N T M O
L A C I J N D B Y U P B E O Y F P I G P
S U C C E S S M D P R A R Z V A M J F O
J A B P D F I R O P P O R T U N I T Y N
Find the words list below in the puzzle above ……
ABILITY SUPPORT
CENT SUMMER CAMP
COIN SUCCESS
COPPER ROYAL CANADIAN MINT
CURRENCY QUEEN ELIZABETH II
DEVELOPMENT POWER WHEELCHAIR
DISABILITY POSITIVE CHANGE
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PENNY
HELP OPPORTUNITY
INDEPENDENCE MAPLE LEAF
Creative Writing
Suggestions for book reports or essays for various age groups:
- Describe the history of the Canadian penny. When and where was it made, what were its components, size, design, etc.
- Imagine that you have 50,000 pennies. What will you do with them?
- Name the people who appeared on Canadian coins from 1902 to the present. Describe their role, the change in appearance of the coin and the significance of the coin’s changing design.
- What is the significance of the Maple Leaf and how has it changed in appearance on the penny?
- If you were asked to design a new Canadian penny, what would it look like? What designs would you put on the front and back of your penny? Why? Draw pictures of your new penny, one showing the front and one showing the back.
Science Experiment
Purpose of the Experiment:
- To find out how the chemicals in a penny react with different liquids.
Materials:
- Copper pennies (pennies dated before the year 1981 work the best)
- Small beakers or glass jars
- A variety of liquids, e.g., lemon juice, bleach, vinegar, rubbing alcohol, salt water, sugar water
- Paper and pencil to record observations
- Tape and marker to label the beakers
- Spoon (optional)
Procedure:
- Put the students into groups of four.
- Give each group 4 or 5 beakers.
- Have each group place a penny in each beaker.
- Pour a different type of liquid in each beaker to cover the penny.
- Label each beaker with the contents and date, e.g., beaker 1 – 09/25/03 – lemon juice).
- Check the pennies every day and record your observations for one week. Note the colour of the penny and liquid, the date it started to change colour, etc.
Conclusion:
- At the end of the week, have the students discuss their observations in their groups. Which pennies turned green? Which pennies turned green first? Which liquids caused pennies to change colour?
- The pennies should all turn green eventually; however, vinegar and salt make the reaction occur more quickly.
Mathematics Activity
Dating Pennies
Purpose:
- To graph 50 pennies by their date
Materials needed:
- 50 pennies for each group of 4 students
- Graph paper
- Coloured markers
Procedure:
- Divide into groups of 4.
- Label the graph paper “Penny Graph.”
- Examine the pennies and label the horizontal x-axis “date of penny.” Put the pennies in order by date and record the dates, starting with the earliest date.
- Label the vertical y-axis “number of pennies” and then count by 5s to complete the vertical scale.
- Record the number of pennies in the columns that correspond to the dates on the pennies.
- Colour the graph by year.
- Compare which dates have the most, least, and same number of pennies.
- Count how many different years are recorded for the set of 50 pennies.
- Repeat the activity with another set of 50 pennies and compare the results.
- Are they similar or are they different? Explain why.
Encourage students to bring in
more pennies
· Have a principal challenge! Encourage the students to raise $1000 or more. If the students meet or exceed the goal, the principal will do something silly, such as sing a solo, cut his/her hair, or dress in a funny costume.
· Have the teachers challenge the students to match the weight of the pennies the teachers. If the weight of the students’ pennies matches or exceeds the weight of the teachers’ pennies, the teachers will have to sing and dance for the students at the next assembly or the teachers will have to create a Penny Power cheer and perform it at the next assembly (pompoms and all!).
· Have the students challenge the teachers on who could raise the most money. Supply schools with buckets labeled “Students” and buckets labeled “Staff.”
· Have a school incentive draw. All students who bring in $2.00 or more in pennies or other coins can put their name into the draw. At the end of the program, draw a name for a prize.
· Send letters and notices home to parents. Parents have the loose change! (see parent letter/notice provided in package to school)
· Want to create awareness among students? Have the students create the Easter Seals or Penny Power logo out of pennies on the gym floor. It makes a great photo (see page 4)!
Penny Power for Easter Seals Kids make cents. It is a wonderful example of kids helping kids…allowing students across the community and the province the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of other children and adults who live daily with a disability.
A TWIST ON PENNY POWER 2013
How Elementary Schools can fundraise for Easter Seals in a different way:
- 1. Walk a mile in an ES child’s shoes
v Ask students to collect pennies or pledges to walk a mile during a school lunch
v Collect enough money to line up 1 mile of pennies.
- 1 mile = 844800 pennies or $844.80
v Each class will be given a different disability that they must adapt to while walking. Kids quickly realize that they can do it…they just might need a little help in most cases.
- 2. Skate for Kids
v Partner with the schools within your area.
v Easter Seals will book your local rink.
v Ask every child to bring $1 to Skate for Kids.
- 3. Cost of a Helping Hand
v Your school picks one item from the Cost of a Helping Hand list (available on request) that they believe they could fund with their own fundraisers within the school.
v For example, if the school decides they would like to fund an Orthopedic Body Support, they would need to raise between $860-$2,000. With one specific item in mind, the school creates a common goal.
- 4. Student Art Exhibit
v Ask students to draw pictures on how your school or community could become more accessible
v Ask students to paint all of the possibilities that children with physical disabilities have. Kids will learn that children with physical disabilities can do anything when things are adapted to help them succeed.
v Create an Exhibit and charge the community $1 to attend the event.
v Give community members the opportunity to purchase paintings for a donation.
A TWIST ON PENNY POWER 2013
How High Schools can fundraise for Easter Seals in a different way:
- Student Easter Seals Committee
v A selected group of students work all year planning little fundraisers for Easter Seals
v Students who participate in an Easter Seals Committee will receive their respective community hours
- A Day in the Life
v Interactive Fundraising and Awareness
v Select Class Presidents to trade in their walking shoes for wheelchairs for most of the school day.
v Participating students and student council members raise money for Easter Seals in their respective classes (pledge forms and coin buckets will be included)
v The group of students will be given a list of things to do in the school that will raise awareness on accessibility issues in your school (i.e. order lunch in cafeteria line, use an accessible bathroom, travel from one class to another in the given amount of break time, access their lockers, etc.)
v Have these students make a presentation at the end of the day discussing their day
v Easter Seals representative will do a presentation
- Adaptive Games Workshop
v An Easter Seals representative will attend your school for the day to teach students ways of adapting sports to promote inclusion of all children.
v Students can bring in $5 to participate in a one hour workshop
- Lunch & Learn: Kids with Physical Disabilities
v Students bring a $1 donation to hear kids with disabilities speak about their experiences.
v This can be completed during a lunch hour.
- Accessible Basketball Week:
v Basketball Shoot out.
- Team gets a company to sponsor $2 for each basket OR
- Team gets pledges to play
- Half of the time the students play in a wheelchair
v Show clips on Paralympic Basketball Games
v Have a wheelchair basketball exhibition/game
Training PowerPoint Available Upon Request – contact margaret@eastersealspei.org
