How to host an activity bag swap

So have my postings on activity bags caught your interest? Why not host a swap. Sherri MacLean, co-founder of Activity Bags LLC, offers the following advice on hosting your first swap.

We found that holding a swap is a really fun way to accumulate a variety of preschool activities without having to assemble every one by ourselves. Basically, you get a few friends together. We found twenty to be a great number for a swap, but it also works well with fewer. Each person receives instructions for assembling one activity. They will put that activity together twenty (or whatever the number of participant) times. Then, you swap, and each person gets one activity from every other person! It is great fun! When the swap is over, each participant will walk away with many completely different preschool activities. You can certainly do all the activities by yourself; you do not have to do a swap. The activity instruction sheets are very clear for assembling one, ten, fifteen, or twenty activity bags.Coordinating an activity bag swap is not only easy, but very fun! Below are some tips to give you an idea of how simple it is to coordinate a swap. More detailed instructions are contained in each book.
Set Important Dates. Before you start calling all your friends to participate in your swap, you need to do a few things first:- Decide on the dates for assembling your activities.- Determine the date for the actual swap.- Select the activities you want to assemble. Having all this information at the ready will help you when you make your calls or send emails to the potential swap participants.
Find Your Participants.Now that you have all your important dates and activities picked out, you need to find some participants to be in the swap. Once you have an idea of potential participants, you can either send them an e-mail or call them. All of our books include a Participant Information Form to help gather all your information on each swap participant. Below are some suggestions of where to find participants for your swap:- Preschool play group- Church- Moms in your neighborhood- Friends and family- Homeschool Support Group- Moms you meet at the park- Basically, any mom, grandmother and or teacher with preschoolers
Assign the Activities.Every book includes a Preschool Activity Supply List to help you find an activity based on what supplies your participants may have on hand. When you talk to your potential participants, ask them what supplies they have on hand at home and try to match an activity to what they already have. Every bag is designed to cost $1 or less to assemble. But, the more items you have at home on hand, the less each bag will cost.
Communicate and Stay Organized.It is important to communicate with your swap participants in case they have questions regarding buying supplies, assembling the bags, etc. You can send an email out about 2 weeks before the swap date just to check in and see how things are going. About a week before the swap date, send one more email to check in and remind the participants regarding the swap date and time. Each includes sample emails and letters to help you communicate.
Learn from Other Coordinators."The best tool for me was communication. After I made the first contact with my participants via phone using the script in the book, I followed up with an email using the example in the book. Everybody knew what was going on and if anyone had questions regarding their activity, I caught it early. Also, the Activity Instructions are VERY clear. The majority of the questions I received were regarding the best places to buy supplies and substituting items.""Try to find people you think are truly willing and committed to following through with assembly etc. That was my biggest challenge. Take the time to do a lot of follow up calls, reminders and make yourself more available to pinpoint potential problems before the swap.""Do not be afraid to work with the number of participants you have. If you do not have 20, do not worry. If you have less than 20, you can just make that number of activities or everyone can do 2 activities and double the number of activity bags you will receive. If you have more than 20, you can split into 2 groups. Be creative"

Thanks again Sherri!
Wendy