Box Tops for Education

You can get the magnets and things in the Coordinator Store, although it might be cheaper just to make your own.  The Dollar Tree (if you have one near where you live) is also a great place to find some small prizes!

I agree that it is definitely cheaper to make your own prizes and so much more fun! Even check the Target Dollar spot for extra goodies to use as prizes.

Butchinfamily:

I am a new coordinator and I am looking for prize ideas that don't cost a lot of money. Also, does anyone know where I can purchase Box Tops items such as magnets, pencils and other trinkets I can use as give-a-ways.  THANK YOU

You could check for buying a "lot" of items on ebay when people are selling more than one item they describe the listing as a lot or as retail amount  might work hope this helps

At my daughter's elementary school, they would give the kids a free dress day for bringing in box tops. This is something you can ask the school principal about if your school wears uniforms. The kids love a free dress day. Or at my other daughter's jr. high, we offer up a raffle contest for 1 winner to win a chance to have lunch in a secluded area on campus where no kids are allowed to hang out with 10 of their friends. This prize doesn't cost anything and we just got permisssion and coordinated the day with the principal.

Last year we started to pull 2 to 4 collection sheets at random and reward $5 gift certificates to Target-we did this only in the months of September and October then again in January and February before the submission date.

Keep in mind Oriental Trading.  If you shop through the Boxtop Market place, I believe you get 4% of your order (before tax and shipping)  They often run free shipping promotions.

Need to know how to change schools. I need to use a school in Crawfordsville Indiana not MN

Go to my Profile at the top right corner of the page, and you can change it there.

I love the the Target gift card for the random drawing thanks! Did anyone break their contest down to grades or just the entire school?

I just started as the coordinator this year myself.  Our first contest is by grade.  The grade that brings in the most boxtops gets free ice cream cards from the school (the school has no problem with this at all).  There are 3 classes per grade so I feel like it gives them a way to combine their efforts and work as a whole team.

my thought is the money you spend on prizes could be donated to the school there has to be a better way then prizes that cost money

would love some ideas that don't cost money

If the teachers and staff at your childs school are up for anything have a contest were the kids get to vote for which teacher or staff member they want to see get hit in the face with a pie. Each collection sheet turned in is worth 1 vote. Have a display show the teachers in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd to keep the kids interested. The assemblys most school have at the end of grading periods are the perfect time to announce the winner and bring them up to get a whip cream pie to the face. this keeps all the kids excited and allows them all to be part of the award.

As the school coordinator I try to vary things.  I do class contests - the class with the highest average of box tops in Sept. gets a pizza party (probably our most expensive but more popular especially if you can get a business to donate pizzas and you advertise for them.  We also do ice cream party, extra recess with brownies, etc.  For individual contests, I do free dress passes (a day our of uniform), homework pass, free chick fil-a kids meal (this establishment and many others will give us those coupons happily as it brings more business), and in Dec. every so many box tops enters you in the raffle of a Christmas stocking which I fill with fun but inexpensive Christmas toys and activities from WalMart or Dollar Tree.  To see the different collection sheets you can go to our school website http://staug-md.org/box_tops.asp .  I advertise a lot on newsletters, weekly flyer, and the website.  Hey, I even dress up as Ms. Box Tops to wave in the parking lot at dismissal when a contest deadline is approaching.

I really like the idea on the Christmas stocking!! Thanks for the ideas

You could have a class party - the most wins a breakfast, cupcake, pizza, ice cream, or ice pop party.  Ask you local stores/businesses to donate prizes.  And advertise their generous donation to your school community.  Our local supermarkets donate a gift card or food toward our parties.  Cake mixes and icing are always on sale  too.  Everyone who sends in Box Tops gets to enter a random raffle for prizes  These also include local vendor donations for free bowling, mini-golf, open play passes, gift cards, merchandise, school supplies, etc.  I balance it out with hot cocoa, microwave popcorn, seasonal toys, snacks, candy & other items depending on the season.  One winner is selected per grade level per contest.  We have 3 contests during the year to correspond with submission dates and June expiration dates.  Since we started them our submissions have increased every year.  Good luck!  You really don't have to spend a lot of money to get everyone collecting Box Tops.  Steady advertisement & reminders help too.   

I love the Stocking idea as well. I have been coordinator for my school for 3 yeras now. This is my forth. We have had a class room vs class room competition again and again. I have had  a Race car race where each class gets a race car to decorate and race to the finish. I made a huge race track display and moved the cars toward the finish line.Offering first ,second and third prizes as we always have three classrooms that are very close. I have done the same with an under the sea theme using our school mascot a dolphin , I have done a snowball fight using class room snow balls and a huge snow man display, and a foot ball game using a goal and footballs. These are always displayed in the schools lunch room so the students have a vsiual of their progress.

The PTA continues to tell me this idea works but I am running out of ideas. The Stocking rafffle is great. I am going to ask for a Stocking donation from a local store to use for the prize.

I also am going to do a Boys vs Girls competition for Valentines ,but the only prize I can think of to benifit the winners is to display Girl/Boys Rule with Box tops on the school marquee. Any ideas other than this would be so appriciated

How about the winner receiving an extra recess or choice time (like an in-class recess at our school)? Or maybe even a Friday movie in the library (or whatever area of the school) with some popcorn or something for the winners? Cheap, easy, but certainly motivational for the children that want to win!!

I liked a lot of the suggestions that others have made. I skimmed through the posts and did not see pajama day listed as an idea. Some ideas from the past are lunch with the Principal, hat day, wacky tacky day (dressing with clothes inside out, backwards, mismatched clothes, shoes, etc.)

I recently purchased 1,000 fun bands from Oriental Trading for $45. (I used a promotional code found on retailmenot(dot)com for free shipping plus $5 off $50 purchase.) These seem to be a cheap and fun prize as they are really popular at school right now. They came in forty bags of fifty bands with an assortment of shapes such as letters, numbers, music, cars, dinasours, etc. I hope that they increase student participation this year.

Debbie

Debbie-  Did you use the Marketplace for that Oriental Trading order?  That would have been almost $2 for your school if you did! 

Very cool ideas.  Thanks for the link to your school.  Love the stocking notion.  How much do you spend filling it up?  And are they good for K-5 or geared to one specific age group?

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Any suggestons with a complaint from a parent about how Box Tops are marketed with name brand items? The concern is school's incentives at school doesn't allow a fair playing field for students whos families can't afford name brand products. The parent was also upset with how the Box Top collection may be changing the shopping habits of families who may not be able to afford to buy these name brand items, that an incentive program is "bullying" parents.

You can't please everyone.  It is the brand name company that is coughing up the money.  In actual fact, I am an extremely thrify shopper.  I can buy a box top product for a lot less than a generic if I have a coupon and a sale going (and when I do, I'll buy 12 of them instead of 1), but it isn't going to be worth it to try and explain that to someone else.  The best you can do is say that you hear them and that you'll take that into consideration in the future.  You may want to switch off individual prizes. 

I'm not doing any individual contests at my school for the opposite reason.  My daughter is in her first year at the expensive private school that is full of "power parents" (we're definitely on the bottom of that barrel ourselves lol).  I'm afraid if I do even a simple contest for individual kids, I'll have parents out there buying box tops off ebay at $1 each just so that their child can win a pencil or a free dress day.  I am going to try a class contest (snowballs) later in the year.  The best thing about that is that a parent can't manipulate their child into winning.  It all comes down to how the snowballs get distributed by other people.  The rest of the time I'm just promoting, promoting, promoting but not contest-ing. 

I also recommend that if you have that complaint, you need to talk to the Principal.  If she doesn't like the answer she gets from you, that's her next step so you want to clue him/her in first and get them on your side. 

Tess

kalikiano:

Any suggestons with a complaint from a parent about how Box Tops are marketed with name brand items? The concern is school's incentives at school doesn't allow a fair playing field for students whos families can't afford name brand products. The parent was also upset with how the Box Top collection may be changing the shopping habits of families who may not be able to afford to buy these name brand items, that an incentive program is "bullying" parents.

 

I always reinforce with parents that the Box Top collection emphasis is not to go out and buy more stuff, but to instead never throw away a Box Top!  Once you are in the mindset of saving these rectangles, you will cut them off Kleenex boxes at your relative's houses =).  To reinforce this emphasis, I give a small prize (popcorn coupon or pencil) for a ten spot collection sheet returned, even if it is not complete.  I do this two times per year.  People seem to be responsive and respectful when I explain the emphasis.  Also, I remind parents to look for Box Tops on products in their children's classrooms; teachers do not always have time to cut these off of products that are found in classrooms.  Good luck!