We have a Spring Carnival every year and we have the third, fourth and fifth grade classes donate items for theme baskets. We then sell tickets for the raffle of each basket! These are a big hit but I need some ideas for new themes. In the past we have done candles, relaxation, baseball, summer fun (beach items), chocolate, sports, kitchen gadgets, angels, Winnie The Pooh, School Supplies, ----anyone out there who does the same thing I would love to hear some of your themes!

We're also in the process of organizing our Spring Carnival, and I've suggested the following themes for our raffle baskets: Teacher Supplies; Coffees; Teas; Legos; Powerpuff Girls; Wheel-It (Hot Wheels stuff); Pokemon/Digimon/Dragonball Z; Sweet Temptations (chocolates, etc.); Let's Jam (radio,CDs,cassette player, etc.); GI Joe; slumber Party; Just Girls (nail polishes, diary, etc.); Barbie; Disney/WB/Nick; What a Doll (not Barbie); Explore It (binoculars & outdoorsy); Sports for Kids; Sports for Adults; Imagination Station (art supplies, bead making kits, etc.); Family Games; Ship & Shore (raft, beach toys, towel, etc.); Model & Mold It (tinker toys, models, construction kits); baby shower; kitchen gadgets; tools; Cooking (cookbook, gadgets, etc.); First Aid Kit; Travel Games; Music (variety of CD's); A Night at the Movies (Blockbuster certificate, popcorn, movie theater tickets, videos, etc.); Computer Games.

A basket filled with Harry Potter "stuff" is another idea .. since he's kinda a hot topic amongst the kids these days.. ie.. legos, books, every flavor jelly beans, wizard hat ..etc Good luck. We are also doing an auction

oops .. accidently hit enter.. for our auction we are having each class make something... painted pottery, hand print step stool etc... these generally end up in a bidding war.. It's amazing what parents will pay for their kids artwork.. myself included. good luck.

Here are a few Class basket ideas that I have seen at recent auction:
Birthday To Go- with wraped gift items for a certain age group like 4-6 year olds
Tied In Knots - with men's ties
For The Kitchen - kitchen tools and utensils
Rainy Days - fun activities for kids to do on a rainy day
A Spirited Exchange - basket of various wines
A Bundle Of Joy - baby shower gifts for a parent to be
You Ought To Be In Pictures - with a camera and film, albums, frames
Life's Simple Pleasures - a fluffy robe, scented candles, bath & body products
Bob The Builder - videos and toys
Bread And Chocolate - bread mixes, chocolates, etc.
The Three R's - puzzles, games, books

Hope this helps.
Norman O'Neal
President, Auctioneers Association of Maryland

We did a family fun night basket. It included games such as monopoly and uno, microwave popcorn,
pizza gift certificate to a local pizza place, 2 free movie rentals, and a couple of 2liters of pop. It was very popular. For our fun fair I was thinking of putting together a school spirit basket with different spirit items. Last year we were able to get a family membership to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry donated which we should have made a science basket with different experiments along with the membership.
Do you raffle the baskets off? If so, how much do you charge for the tickets?