We had a silent auction for pieces of artwork that our different classes made. The Parents' Board gave each of the teachers a large picture matting and a canvas board and told them to make collages that parents could hang on their walls. The pieces would then be professionally mounted and framed. They came up with the most beautiful works of art, ranging from pictures inspired by Japanese Edo prints to The Hungry Caterpillar to riffs on Andy Warhol pop art. Basically, the teachers asked the kids to draw pictures or paint pieces of tissue paper a la Eric Carle and then assembled and glued the pieces onto painted canvas boards.
We just finished having a silent auction for scarecrows that each class made with teacher and parent help. Each one was unique and very enjoyable. They were displayed over a few weeks around the school and auctioned at the spagetti dinner. The kids and parents had a great time.
We just made a Christmas Tree skirt with one of our kindergarten classes to auction off and made sure every child's name is on it.
There are already parents competing for it and the auction is a week off.
A school in our district had the first grade make a simple quilt with bedsheets and handprints, then they sat the kids on the quilt and took pictures of the students. They auctioned off the quilt and then framed the pix (blown up to poster size) and auction it off also. Rumor has it that it was a triple digit auction item. I wish I had thought of it first!
Wow - what great ideas - I'd like to suggest rather than purchasing the furniture to paint find the same at garage sales - it's less painful on your budget! And definitely personalize the basket thing to what the grade/class is studying or well known for. I also really dig the idea to auction off intangible things - how about lunch with the principal (that could be a high ticket item) or lunch with teachers. One of our teachers donated three sets of knitting lessons - she was is known for her knitting and the kids went crazy over that auction item. Present these ideas to the staff and see what happens. Thanks for sharing all this - I'm taking notes for our upcoming carnival/silent auction!
Oh, I forgot - a retiring first grade teacher had a closet full of "class books" various classes had made over the years. She was going to toss them and I about fell over - I persuaded her to donate them to this year's auction - I'm already hearing about parents in bidding wars over them and the auction isn't until March! Don't be surprised what parents will do for their children's work!
[This message has been edited by ColoradoPTOmom (edited 11-04-2000).]
Our school has hosted an auction (silent & live) for the past 3 years. We also have had painted class projects - chests, chairs, etc. Some other successful ideas have included: stepping stones, pasta bowls painted by the children, a 20pc set of ever day dishes (4 place settings) painted by the children, self portrait quilts, garden benches with custom tiles painted by the children and a wooden picnic table that the children autographed with a "sharpie" and the parents then took a woodburning tool to permanently engrave the autograph into the wood. This year we are having a smaller auction which will be school related items only (class projects, Headmaster for the Day, reserved parking space) and giving the merchants a much needed and earned rest. Would love to hear from other class project ideas.
I'd like to expand a little on an earlier post. Our school has successfully used the themed-baskets idea but we let each classroom pick a different theme. Popular themes include sports (particularly, in my area, TN Titans and University of TN), reading, baby needs, picnic, etc... Each child brings one or more items for the basket, and they decorate it as a group a few days before the auction. These always bring good prices and the children feel good about contributing.
