How to plan a great School Carnival

posted by Mitch Zeltzer

Planning a School Carnival?
Here are some things to consider...

I guess before we cover the tips on how to plan a great school carnival we must first establish why we should even have a school carnival in the first place! Here are some of my favourite reasons:

• Because your students deserve it!
• Builds a sense of community
• Can be a great fundraiser (if you involve parents)
• Enhances school spirit
• Why sit inside all day?!
• Allows both students and staff to de-stress after a long school year

So now that you undoubtedly want to have a school carnival, what do you need to consider/do?

1. Budget & Time: In our experience working with schools on Carnivals, we know that the two hardest resources to come by are ‘budget’ and ‘time’. So, before anything else it is critical to consider how much money you have available to put toward your school carnival and how much time you can comfortably take away from academic time.
2. Pick a date: This seems like an easy task, in theory, but in reality can be quite complicated. Don’t forget to consider field trips, assembly, fundraiser events, exams, and PD Days that are already scheduled. Make sure you refer to your school’s master schedule before you call your vendors.
3. Location: Most schools we work with prefer to have their school carnival take place at/outside their school. This is generally the most cost-effective way of doing things. If you are planning to host your carnival outside your school, make sure to have a rainy day plan ready to go. We’ve seen it happen too many times where weeks of hard work and planning are out the window the second a dark rainy cloud decides to join the carnival! If you are thinking about another location for your school carnival, be sure to consider size, capacity, exclusivity, opening / closing times, time it will take to get to the location, and cost of transportation.
4. Food & Drinks: A nourished child who is sufficiently hydrated is ready to have fun! Make sure the children have their heads covered, sun-screen on and a water bottle in hand!
5. Entertainment: Now that everything else is taken care of, what are you going to do with your students?! The best tip we can give you here is to keep your students occupied with something active, exciting, and unique, with little down time. If you are looking for some great entertainment, feel free to call your local Dynamix office to learn about our unforgettable carnival experiences. Our philosophy for Carnival Days is “You have all the fun, we do all the work!” Visit us at http://www.getdynamix.com/ to get the appropriate contact information for your area.
6. HAVE FUN: Organize your day so that the teachers of your school can also enjoy the day! If the educators are having fun, so will the students, that’s almost guaranteed!!

Good Luck with your school carnival!

Fun Fridays- Episode 1

Written by Adam Kertesz

I'm back. It has been a long time since I've written on the blog and I apologize to all my fans (once again, hi mom!). I vow to contribute to this awesome blog on a much more regular basis. And one way I plan to do that is to start a new little feature here, called Fun Fridays.

This blog is meant to teach, inform, discuss, promote, provoke, initiate, entertain, and bring our community together as we share a similar passion for the future of our world. As you'll notice from the wide variety of topics so far, we try and cover pretty much anything and everything that has to do with kids. As you might have guessed from the title of the post, this weekly post, will be purely fun. Fun facts. A fun story. A fun idea for the weekend. A fun picture. Maybe even a fun game. Each week will be something different.

If you have something fun that you want to share with our community, send it over and it could be a future Fun Fridays post! It could be anything. As long as you don't walk away (or click away) saying 'Aww that's sad'. I'm going more for 'Cute story' or 'Sounds fun!', or 'Heh, never knew that before'. Things like that. Make sense? Ok let's get started...

For Episode 1, I just want to share a fun, light story with everyone. What I like about it is that it involves one of my childhood heroes, Shaquille O'neal. If Shaq is part of the story, you know it's a fun one.
Here's the link: At Scrabble Championship, It's All About The Q

In short? This weekend in Providence, Rhode Island there is a 2 on 2 Scrabble Tournmanet for kids in Grades 5-8. First prize is $10,000 and the team that comes up with the best word that has the letter 'Q' gets a Shaq jersey!

First of all, 2 on 2 Scrabble..awesome. As a teambuilder, I love the fact they've found a way to turn a game like Scrabble into a team game because as the article mentions, it "also encourages cooperation and reduces pressure on individual players."

Second, Shaq actually wrote a great letter to this weekend's players:
"The competitors, he says, are "showing kids everywhere that it's cool to be smart and use your brain. That it's possible to win money, appear on television and have fun in all kinds of ways."
(President Obama also wrote a letter, but come on.. its Shaq!)

Why Shaq's interest in a Scrabble tournament? Who knows, but maybe because of this funny ESPN commercial.




Have a great weekend everyone!

[video] Sirdeaner Walker's Mission to Stop Bullying...

posted by Mitch Zeltzer

On April 6, Sirdeaner Walker's 11-year-old son, Carl, took his own life. She believes that it was a result of constant bullying at Carl's school. Below you will find a video clip of her appearance on Ellen, where she tells her tragic story. Let's all join Sirdeaner's quest, in her efforts to prevent tragedies like this in the future, by educating our youth to become peaceful members of their community. (click here to learn about Dynamix's Peace Makers Workshop)




For more information, commentary and resources, visit http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2009/04/help_stop_childhood_bullying.php

Ten Actions to Help Eliminate Bullying...

Written by: Mitch Zeltzer

According to Education.com:
"The latest research shows that more than half of all children are, at least on occasion, directly involved in bullying as a perpetrator, victim, or both. And many of those who are not directly involved witness others being bullied on a regular basis. No child is immune - kids of every race, gender, grade and socio-economic sector are impacted. But it doesn’t have to be this way."

The link provided below will bring you to Education.com's top ten actions ALL parents can take to help address bullying with details on each item:
http://www.education.com/reference/article/ten-actions-to-eliminate-bullying/

Here is the short version of Education.com's list:

1. Talk with and listen to your kids - everyday.
2. Spend time at school and recess.
3. Be a good example of kindness and leadership.
4. Learn the signs.
5. Create healthy anti-bullying habits early.
6. Help your child’s school address bullying effectively.
7. Establish household rules about bullying.
8. Teach your child how to be a good witness.
9. Teach your child about cyberbullying.
10. Spread the word that bullying should not be a normal part of childhood.

There are some great ideas there that are easy to implement. As mentioned before, click on the link provided above for more details any each of these suggestions.

Good luck!