A Stroke of Genius

Have you ever looked at a child's piece of art that did not provoke an emotion in you? A giggle, a warm fuzzy, a raised brow of question or a sense of wonder and delight at the inside glimpse of a child's world?

A child's creative work can compete with the best! The innocence and fearlessness of a child's artwork produces results for the viewer that mature artist aspire to.

What does this have to do with raising funds? Quite simply:inspiration!

As a family you may be questioning what exactly you can do as a fundraiser to raise funds for your child's equipment. If you have a smock, canvas or cards, paints and crayons you can yield some great results and some great fun!

Here are a couple creative ides:

Art Show
Invite your children's friends over for a play date to paint. As the host you need to supply a) a theme b) smocks c) canvas for each child d) paint e) brushes

Talk about the fundraiser with your group of children so they understand that they are producing a piece of art to sell. That this is their contribution to helping your child raise money.

There are several ways you can sell your completed art work. Open an online sight where viewers can purchase the pieces. You can do this through your own blog spot with a paypal link or through opening a store on www.etsy.com.

I'm sure your artists have many fans ( i.e. parents, grandparents, teachers) that would love to acquire an original.

The end result will be money in the bank, a great memory and an opportunity to share your story with your community

A Card for All Occasions

Does your child go to school? Perhaps their pre-school or grade school teacher would be interested in using an art class to raise awareness for their student!

You need to provide a)good quality, blank cards that come with envelopes b) watercolours and or crayons and pencil crayons and c)a custom rubber stamp

Each child in the class will be asked to produce 3 or 4 cards with a theme. The theme can be peace, nature, birthdays a special holiday, anything they decide.

Talk to the class about the fact they are producing these one of a kind cards to support their classmate. Their art is their donation.

When the cards are complete and passed back, you can stamp on the back of each card your project name with a rubber stamp. An example may be "This card is in support of Mary's equipment Trust"

Cards could be sold at the school fair, the local market or any supporting stores in your community.

This is just a couple ideas to get you started. If you have a craft crazy kid in your home, ask them what they think. You may be surprised with what they answer!

You can adjust these themes on larger or smaller scales. If you raise $250 or $1,000, you can be sure you will also be creating positive awareness for your fundraising efforts. Positive awareness, enthusiasm and community involvement can produce great spin off effects.