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Two girls fundraising outside their school for Dementia UK

Fundraising ideas for kids

We’ve got lots of ideas for fundraising activities to keep kids entertained while raising money for families affected by dementia.

    Our top three fundraising ideas for kids

    1. A mile a day: challenge yourself to run a mile a day and ask for sponsorship from family and friends. You could even take part in our Walk 1K a Day in February virtual challenge and get yourself a free beanie!
    2. Give it up! How long could you go without chocolate, crisps, TV or video games? Ask family and friends to sponsor you to give something up for a day, a week or even a month – are you up for the challenge?
    3. Get crafty! Embrace your artistic side and make something creative to sell. Whether you knit, crochet, bake or paint, you could sell your creations to family and friends, on a stall outside your house or at a local fete, or ask your school if you can sell them to other pupils.

    If you want to talk about how you can raise funds for Dementia UK, call the Fundraising Team on 020 8036 5440 or email us at fundraising@dementiauk.org – we’re here to help!

    If you’ve already got a brilliant fundraising idea, tell us about your plans and register for your free welcome pack here.

    Fundraise at school

    Get your school involved in some fantastic fundraising for Dementia UK. We can provide fundraising materials to help with your plans along with information about dementia and our specialist dementia nurses so you can tell everyone why you’re supporting us – just get in touch with our Fundraising Team.

    • Disco: sell tickets and get your dancing shoes on!
    • Fayre: Easter, summer and Christmas are all great times to hold a school fete and run a stall for Dementia UK.
    • Loose change: ask pupils and staff to donate the loose change in their pockets, or to save up all their 1ps and 2ps – which class can raise the most?
    • Non-uniform day: ask your school if pupils can wear their own clothes for a day in return for a £1 donation.
    • Olympics: host your own Mini Olympics at school. Set an entry price for each event and award a prize to the winner of each category – why not include some silly sports along with the races?
    • Penalty shootout: test your teachers’ goalkeeping skills!
    • Variety show: give pupils and teachers a chance to showcase their talents, and raise money by selling tickets to the show.
    • Walk to school: challenge yourself to walk to school every day (or part of the way if it’s too far) and ask for sponsorship – you could do this with a group of friends.
    • Soak a teacher: ask pupils to donate to throw wet sponges at a willing teacher. How wet will they get?
    • Easter egg hunt: organise a chocolate trail in your garden or local area and ask family and friends to donate to take part.
    • Bake sale: whip up lots of cakes and cookies to sell for Dementia UK. You could host a coffee morning in your kitchen or garden or deliver cakes in your area in exchange for donations – ask an adult to share the details on social media.
    • Ice cream sale: on a hot summer’s day, set up a table outside your home and sell refreshing ice creams and lollies to your neighbours.
    • Joke-a-thon: give your family and friends a laugh by telling jokes in return for donations.
    • Sponsored silence: ask for sponsorship from family and friends to be silent for a set period of time – an hour, a morning or a whole day! You could do it with friends and award a prize to whoever can stay quiet the longest!
    • Gaming marathon: organise a sponsored gaming challenge on your Xbox, Switch or PlayStation.
    • Karaoke: host your own singalong, charge an entry fee and let everyone channel their inner Harry Styles or Taylor Swift.
    • Quiz: a great way to raise lots of money through entry fees and selling food and drink.
    • Raffle: ask local businesses for prizes and hold a raffle. Get in touch with us to check our raffle guidelines.
    • Treasure hunt: create a trail around your neighbourhood and get family and friends to tick hidden items off a list, with their entry fees supporting a brilliant cause.
    • Secondhand sale: gather your unwanted toys and books and have a tabletop sale – you could ask other people if they’d like a stall in exchange for a donation, too.
    • Yoga-thon: get together with your friends and ask for sponsorship for a yoga marathon – how many hours can you chill out for?
    • Zumbathon: get moving and grooving into fundraising by hosting a Zumbathon in a local sports centre or community hall.
    • Colouring contest: print out our colouring sheets and hold a colouring competition with a small donation to enter and a prize for the winner.
    • Paint a family portrait – include all the family members you can’t see, take a photo of the final painting and share it with them so they can print it and put it on their wall
    • Hold a virtual storytime – read a short story or book over the phone or on video chat; this is great way for younger children to practice their reading skills
    • Start a memory board or scrapbook – include photos, favourite activities done together, favourite places visited and memories you hope to make in the future
    • Wishes jar – write down the activities you wish you could do with family you can’t see onto slips of paper. Decorate a jar or tin and put all your activities inside. Then you can pick them out once you are back together, and do them!

    Colouring activity

    Hold a colouring contest by printing out our colouring sheets and hold a colouring competition with a small donation to enter and a prize for the winner. Print our colouring sheets to try at home.

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    We’d love to see the finished product, so send a photo of your pictures to fundraising@dementiauk.org or tag us on your parent or other adult’s social media:

    Facebook: @DementiaUK

    X (formerly Twitter): @DementiaUK

    Instagram: @dementia_uk

    TikTok: @dementiauk

    It can be really hard if someone you love has dementia, but finding out more about the condition can help you understand what’s happening to them. Have a look at our resources for children and young people to learn more about dementia.

    Creative connections

    Bring some joy to your loved one’s day by downloading and filling in our ‘Closer to you’ letter to post to them.

    Download this resource

    Thanks for downloading! We’re only asking for your email so we can measure downloads and ask for your feedback. We won’t sign you up for any marketing communications, but if you'd like to stay in touch, sign up for our newsletter by clicking "Subscribe to our newsletter" at the bottom of this page.

    Supporter Rhys, holding a piece of their hair

    I wanted to do something to help others, so I decided to cut off my hair to raise money for charity. I chose Dementia UK because our friend has dementia. Now I've raised £1555, I feel very pleased with myself that I've helped lots of people.

    Rhys - Completed a haircut challenge for Dementia UK