The Hidden Power of Smencils

Smencils are one of our most successful fundraising products! They are pencils that have a scent. There are many reasons to choose smencils instead of regular pencils this school year! Scent is proven to affect the user's mood and they are made from recycled material that is better for the Earth.

What are Smencils Made From?

When the idea of scented pencils came about in 2000, it proved difficult to scent wood. So, unlike regular pencils that are formed from trees, smencils are created with recycled newspaper. 172,000 Smencils can be made from just 430 newspapers! In this way, smencils are more responsible for the environment.

Besides smencils, we also offer smens! Smencils and smens are very fun products for kids to use at school and collect or trade with their friends. Once your child has one, they will certainly want more!

The Power of Scent

Smencils’ goal is not just to make writing fun, it is also to affect the user with the power of scent! Your sense of smell can trigger memories, make you hungry, and even boost your mood! Smencils release a scent that can be your child's favorite smell or remind them of a family vacation. It is said lemon can help a person feel more alert and focused. Try a lemon smencil for your student!

Another trick to try with your smencils is studying with one particular scent, say strawberry. Then when test time comes, use the same strawberry smencil. The words and facts you have studied will be more easily remembered when you harness the power of scent!

If you or your school is interested in selling smencils and are excited to get your hands on this popular product, the best distributor is Gifts 'N Things. We offer the absolute LOWEST price on the internet plus free freight! However, seasonal products sell out fast, so order early because there is a limited supply! VISIT ilovesmencils.com or CALL: (800) 468-7511 today!

Life Skills Your Kids Learn From Fundraising

You might perceive fundraising as a pesky part of your child's schooling. When the catalogs of products roll out, it can be hard to envision much more than the work it will take for your child to raise the money expected of them. But hosting a fundraiser is more beneficial to your kids than you think. Here are some life skills your kids learn from fundraising.

Customer Service

Assisting individuals as they pick out which items they would like to purchase is a task most everyone in their lives have done at some point. Great customer service requires knowledge of the products, patience, honesty, politeness, and the ability to follow through on promises. What better way for your child to learn how to deliver great customer service than fundraising? This is a stepping stone to what will likely be a skill needed in their first job.

Financial Responsibility

Oftentimes, fundraising is one of the first opportunities your child has to experience handling a significant amount of money. Besides this, the important aspect of financial goal setting is introduced. Be sure your child takes on as much financial responsibility as possible during the fundraising process. They will gain a lot of confidence when it comes to dealing with money and learn some hard earned lessons about achieving, or not achieving, financial goals.

Communication

Communication skills do not develop in a classroom alone. Fundraising will surely advance your child's communication skills. It is not easy to ask adults or strangers for contributions. It is not easy to have the courage to speak in uncomfortable situations. Fundraising offers these life lessons for your child if you simply let them to take charge. You will be impressed with how poised your child can be speaking to an adult if you allow them the practice.

The next time your child's school begins a fundraiser, approach it as a learning opportunity for your child. Remember the positive aspects it will bring as it forces your child to grow into a more sophisticated and capable person.

Defeat Summer Boredom with These 7 Outdoor Activities

With summer fast approaching and school graduations abound, children will soon be heard collectively sighing, “I’m sooooo bored.” Though they won’t have classes and homework to keep them busy, that doesn’t mean they have to sit around all day like zombies forgetting everything they learned during the school year. Here are 7 FREE summer ideas that you can do with your children to help keep them active and entertained.

Go on a Quest

Did somebody say scavenger hunt? No? How about BEACH SCAVENGER HUNT?!? Head to the nearest beach with this list and have a scavenger hunt. With items like “something made out of metal” and “three different kinds of shells”, your trip can be informative while also adventurous. Bring an extra bag or two and help clean up any trash while you’re there. This will teach your kids conservation as well as keep them busy!

Camping at Home

Have an unexpected day off? Put the tent up in the yard and have an impromptu camping trip without the hassle of packing and travel.

Paper Airplane Contest

Help your kids learn about what makes airplanes fly and have fun at the same time. Check out these downloadable designs for some fast and easy paper airplanes and hold a competition in your backyard when the projectiles are complete.

Backyard Sock Puppet Play

Hark! Is that a young Shakespeare I hear? Follow these simple instructions to turn an old bed sheet into an impressive theater curtain. You can also find tons of cool puppet ideas on Pinterest. Let your kids write a script, pop some popcorn and enjoy the show!

Be Kind

With advancements in technology and instant entertainment abound, it is easy for children (and adults) to become self-absorbed. However, it’s also easy for us to be kind to our fellow man and give selflessly. Teach your children about acts of kindness by putting together care packages for troops, organize a food drive for your local food shelf, or set up a community cleanup project.

Paint the Town (or just your driveway)

Kids love to color. Sidewalk chalk is an incredible outlet for this. There’s little to no inside mess. Okay, this idea might cost a few dollars, but it is completely worth it. There are several recipes for sidewalk chalk, and when thinking about getting more bang for your buck, it is cheaper than buying boxes of it from the store. Plus, cleanup is a breeze. Just wait for the next rain storm.

Neighborhood Olympics

Do you have the next Usain Bolt or Michelle Akers living near you? Organize a neighborhood Olympics with fun races and obstacle courses and give prizes for the top spots.


School might be out for the summer, but that doesn’t mean your kids need to stop exploring, learning, and being active. Take some of these fun ideas and get busy with your kids! When the time comes again to get busy raising funds for your favorite organizations, visit Gifts ‘N Things for everything you’ll need.

Asking For Donations Safely and Effectively

With the school session upon us, many parents are reminded that fundraisers are an integral part of the year. Whether your kids need to raise money for new sports equipment, uniforms, transportation costs, or supplies, fundraising is important to many school programs. Parents, however, tend to dread the fundraising season because they fear having to ask friends and family for donations—much less strangers. Here are a few tips to help ease you through your school’s fundraiser and make the fundraising experience more fun for you, your children, and your potential donors:

Do Your Research

When it comes to family and friends, it is rather easy to know what interests them. Focus on items that you know they will be using and will be interested in. If your brother or sister isn’t very adventurous, help your child steer their eye towards something for the home. If your aunt and uncle love cooking and baking, show them the newest kitchen gadgets that will make their time in the kitchen easier and more fun.

Image by arrathoonlaa via Flickr

Practice Makes Perfect

As with any presentation, it is important to know what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it–especially if your kids are the ones presenting. Sit down with your children and have them rehearse their presentation while pretending that you are their audience. Fumbling over words and phrases will distract your potential donor, while a well-spoken delivery may just snag an extra donation or two. Let them know that a few mistakes are okay and that confidence will go a long way.

Make It Fun

While your delivery may be well rehearsed, it shouldn’t sound like an automatic proposal. Switch up your delivery method to keep the mood light with smiling, involved parties, or throw in a joke or two to break the ice with more walled off individuals.

Image by Mike G via Flickr

Involve The Donor

If you notice that the donor is eyeing up a particular product, ask them what their opinion is on that item and LISTEN. People often want to have their voices heard and this is especially true when in a sales pitch. Find a common ground on items and ask them to speak their mind. This is an important lesson to teach your child not just to successfully fundraise, but to become better communicators.

Asking for money from friends and family is not often easy. Asking for money from strangers can be downright uncomfortable, but if you and your child follow these steps you might find that some of the stress is lifted and fundraising is more fun. Your child may even come home with a few extra prizes because of their success!

Look to Gifts ‘N Things for your next fundraising program. We have many different programs to choose from, you’re bound to find one that fits your needs.

Back To Where We Came From: Moving Gifts ‘N Things to Kutztown

When Gifts ‘N Things moved to their Fleetwood warehouse from Kutztown in 2000, they never thought they would outgrow the 41,000 square foot space. However, the time has come! This summer, Gifts N’ Things will be returning to Kutztown to a new 73,000 square foot space.

“We’ve grown a lot the past couple of years and need more space. Last year we needed to rent additional warehouse space just to keep up.”, said owner Kurt Koehler.  Gifts N Things provides schools and other organizations with fundraising and holiday shop programs nationwide.

After mulling over whether or not they wanted to rent more space to keep up with the demands, Koehler said fate brought them the perfect space they needed. The owner of the building is Koehler’s daughter’s High School field hockey coach. The building had an indoor field hockey facility, gym, used furniture store, and other businesses in the space, but Koehler saw the potential for Gifts ‘N Things.

One day after watching his daughter’s field hockey game in the building, Kurt stated, “I spoke to Coach and her husband and told them I was looking for more space. They said they didn’t want to sell the building until Coach was ultimately ready to retire. The field hockey facility is on the second floor and I told them we just need the first floor of the building and that the field hockey space could stay there until they’re ready to retire.”

Keeping the field hockey space on the second floor sealed the deal and Gifts ‘N Things will begin moving into the space this summer. Koehler said, “Returning to Kutztown will be like going home because many of our employees are from that area.” Gifts ‘N Things currently has fifteen employees, and during peak season they increase staff to approximately fifty employees.

To stay up to date with the Gifts ‘N Things move, make sure to follow us on Facebook and

Instagram !

Planning Your Next Fundraiser

Summer vacation is nearing its end, and parents everywhere are thankful for the lack of homework, soccer practices, and extracurricular obligations that come with the school year. One thing you can start to think about is planning the upcoming school year’s fundraiser. Waiting until the last minute while school is in session can mean your child’s fundraiser is messily put together and not as successful as it can be. There are a few things in mind to think about when you begin to plan your next fundraiser:

Choices, Choices…

There are a ton of different options to chose from when it comes to picking a fundraiser. From online shops, to frozen foods, brochures, holiday gifts, direct sales, school spirit items or a color-a-thon blast, making a decision on WHICH fundraiser to choose can be the most difficult. Keep in mind the most important factor- your child. How old is your child? a ten year old may shy away from a brochure fundraiser, or a teenager might scoff at the idea of going door-to-door with holiday gifts. Play to your child’s skill sets.

Timing is Everything

Think about what time of year you are going to conduct your fundraiser; is the event you are raising money for in the spring or fall? Do you plan on conducting an outdoor event or going door-to-door around the neighborhood? In that case, a January event may not be the best choice. Holiday gifts are going to sell much better at the end of November than in the beginning of April. Keep in mind some of the fundraising trends and changes in 2015.

Skill Development Preparation

Your child may be motivated by prizes, but conducting a fundraiser develops many skills you child can use later in life, like interpersonal skills, leadership, communication skills, and learning how to market yourself. Talk about these skills with your child ahead of time. Give them some ideas about approaching people and presenting themselves. Preparation on this front is key to develop those oh-so-important soft skills of fundraising.

Plan the upcoming school year’s fundraiser ahead of time and see the difference it can make. Better yet- conduct an event in the summer! With Gifts ‘N Things, the options for fundraising are nearly endless; the hard part is picking the right one for you. Follow a few of these tips and your next fundraiser is sure to go off without a hitch.

Schoolathon: Running Your Way to Fundraising Success

Are you looking for ways to increase school spirit and create excitement in your school? Why not raise money at the same time? Try a School-A-Thon! School-A-Thon provides a fun, interactive alternative to traditional fundraisers. The best part is there isn’t anything to sell! School-a-Thon experts will help with event-planning, maximize the dollars raised and minimize the need for an armada of hard-to-get volunteers. Lets learn more!

What is it?
The School-a-Thon programs allow your school to choose what kind of thon they’d like to do, whether it’s a spell-a-thon, walk-a-thon, or any thon you can think of!

School-A-Thon provides every detail of how to bring your thon to the next level. From bland to grand. They provide an event planner, customizable donation site, credit card processing, money manager software and amazing awards and prizes. They have everything you need to maximize your profits and minimize your work. Doesn’t it sound too good to be true?

Who can do it?
Anyone is able to work with School-A-Thon. It’s not just limited to schools. It’s a great way to raise money for your college, club, or church. Whatever it is for, it’s guaranteed to raise awareness and bring your community together!

Color-A-Thon
This is by far, the favorite thon to run! The Color-A-Thon adds excitement to your thon. Schools all over the country are putting a splash of color into their thon and experiencing phenomenal profit while providing a unique, community based event for all ages. The Color-A-Thon is a run or walk where you get splashed with color on your way. How fun does that sound?

What is the best part of all? Your school can earn up to 70% profit! Imagine all the great things you could add to your school with the extra money. You can use School-A-Thon as a way to promote your next fundraiser as well! What do you think about School-A-Thon? Comment below!

Teach Your Kids the Gift of Giving

Children Learn the Gift of Giving with Lil' Shopper's Shoppe

This holiday season, like any holiday season, there will be a lot of shopping. While gift-giving is a key element in the holiday season, how can you get your children to learn a valuable lesson without becoming addicted to their shiny new toys? Teaching your kids about giving is very important. Now is the time for them to learn about spreading warmth and helping others. Lessons you can teach your children this holiday season include:

Thoughtfulness for Others
Witnessing the gratitude of others is a great way to help a child’s thoughtfulness grow and it’s a feeling they will want to repeat. Personalizing a gift is a great way to add a little extra touch and to give a child pride. Whether it is something as simple as wrapping the gift in the child’s artwork,or adding a personal message, small touches go a long way. Make sure to ask for your child’s input. Ask what they think would be best suited for siblings, grandma, grandpa, cousins, etc., and be sure to let the child “present” the present. Feeling included in the gift-giving process is essential to making the child understand thoughtfulness.

The Value of Money
A fun and fantastic way to teach children the value of money is to involve them in the gift buying process. If planning a surprise gift for a child, it may be difficult to include them. However, you can easily incorporate their own wish list into a lesson about value and money. You can teach children about shopping around for the best price and how to get more bang for your buck. This will not only make more thrifty shoppers, but also teach your child about worth and value.

Gratitude and Values
Of course kids love receiving presents at the holidays but what truly makes the season special is the goodwill around them. Perhaps most important of all, a child learns gratitude when receiving gifts. When you involve a child in the buying and giving process, it helps them to better understand the effort behind receiving a gift from others. Incorporating your child in gift giving helps them to appreciate what they receive and be thankful. Children learn to express thanks for big and small gifts, not just the ones at the top of their list that year.

 

 

Free Supplies makes using our Holiday Shop a Breeze

Gifts 'N Things offers a one-stop Holiday Shop for your school. The following list of free supplies makes execution a breeze and running the shop a joy.

Colorful Parent Letters                                                                                                                                  You’ll love these multi-colored letters as they’re the perfect way to invite your students’ parents for a fundraiser. We supply a whole range of these colorful English and Spanish parent letters addressed to both parents and in whatever quantity you need.

Budget Envelopes

With a shopping budget, parents can be very clear about how much they want to give towards the fundraiser. This marries convenience with practicality and makes your fundraiser enjoyable.

‘Coming Soon’ Event Posters

You can spread awareness for your Holiday Shop by using our ‘Coming Soon’ posters. These posters are in set templates that allow you to fill in the essential elements like the date and the place. You can place these in popular hangouts and pull a crowd.

Gift Bags

Any Holiday Shop is only complete with gift bags. Shoppers will have varied interests in the products and different budgets too. We supply three different sizes of gift bags so that you’re never falling short of the right kind of gift bags.

Decorative Tablecloths

Most Holiday Shops we help out with use tables as the standard choice for their display medium.

You can use our decorated and multi-colored tablecloths to help cover up your tables and make
them more attractive and standardized.

Tent Cards

This is a great way to exhibit your wares so that someone can find exactly what he or she is looking for. Our tent cards have been updated with photos and descriptions too, so that you’ll get a lot more from them.

Pre-coded Merchandise

 Our merchandise comes pre-coded, free of cost. Each code corresponds to a specific price. This solves the problem of looking through a list of items to find prices. You can just look up the code instead and speed up the checkout process.

Chairperson Planning Guide

The organizer of any Holiday Shop has a lot of planning to do and many important decisions to make. We’ve worked with many chairpersons in the past and we’ve created a planning guide to make things simpler for you.

Gifts ‘N Things is committed to make things simpler for the organizers of any fundraiser. We also
deliver all re-orders on the very next day, and we have a complete chairperson website.

What do you think of our free Holiday Shop supplies? Let us know in the comments below.

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