Class auction projects and how to run an elementary auction around them.

A class auction project is one piece of art or one useful object that a whole class makes together, which the school then auctions. It's usually the most personal item at an elementary school auction, because every parent in that class has a stake in it. The rest of the auction plan, from timeline to pickup day, is in our guide to planning a school auction.

A class project costs a few dollars in materials and one or two sessions of class time. What it sells for depends on how many families want it, and every family in the class has a reason to: their child's handprint, drawing or tile is part of it. Grandparents bid from out of town. Two families who both want it for their living room push it past what any store item would fetch.

Class projects also bring families into the auction who wouldn't browse a list of gift cards. A parent who comes to see their child's class piece stays to look at everything else.

Each idea says what the children do and what an adult has to prepare. Pick projects the class can finish in one or two sessions.

Preschool and kindergarten

• Fingerprint tree canvas. An adult paints a bare tree on a large canvas; each child adds leaves with fingerprints in paint. One short turn per child.
• Handprint planter or flowerpot set. Children press painted handprints onto large terracotta pots. An adult seals them afterward.
• Class quilt. Each child draws on a fabric square with fabric markers. A parent who sews assembles the quilt.
• Our class picture book. Each child draws one page on a shared theme. Bind the pages, or have them printed as a hardcover book.

Grades 1 and 2

• Painted tile trivets or a tile tabletop. Each child paints a ceramic tile. A local paint-your-own-pottery studio can fire them; ask if they'll donate the firing. Adults grout tiles into a table or frame them as trivets.
• Grid painting. Divide a large canvas into squares, one per child, with a shared color palette so the finished piece holds together.
• Class cookbook. Each family sends a recipe, and each child illustrates their family's page.
• Painted step stool. Each child paints a section with a shared palette; an adult seals it.

Grades 3 to 5

• Self-portrait collage. Each child draws or paints a small self-portrait; an adult frames them together in one large frame.
• Painted Adirondack chair or garden bench. Children paint slats or panels in sections. An adult primes and seals it.
• Custom game table. A checkerboard or game board painted by the class, mounted on a small table.
• Stained-glass-style window hanging. Tissue paper or glass paint on acrylic panels, assembled into one piece.
• Ceramic bowl set. Each child shapes or paints one bowl, sold as a set.

Older grades can plan the design themselves, and it becomes a lesson in working on a shared piece. In middle school, class projects give way to experiences and privileges; see our school auction ideas.

Finishing takes longer than the class sessions. If the sealing, sewing or framing starts the week before the auction, the piece won't be ready for the preview.

Teachers are asked for a lot. Make the project cost them as little as possible: a room parent brings the supplies, runs the session, and cleans up; the teacher agrees to the date and is present. Offer a choice of two or three simple projects rather than asking the teacher to invent one. A teacher who says no should be able to say it without anyone else hearing the question.

Photograph the finished piece in daylight against a plain wall, with one close-up that shows the detail. Keep children's faces, full names and name-bearing handwriting out of every photo, unless your school's photo permissions cover it.

In the description, say which class made it, how it was made, its size, and what care it needs. "Made by Mrs. Lopez's second grade, each child painted one tile" tells a parent everything they need.

Open the bidding low enough that someone bids on the first day. A class piece has no retail price, so let the bidding find its value rather than guessing high.

Some families pool money to win the piece together, sometimes as a gift for the teacher. That's fine: one person bids on behalf of the group, and the group settles up between themselves.

Plan for the families who don't win. A photo print of the finished piece, sold for a small fixed price or given to every family in the class, lets everyone take something home.

• Time the close around a school event. A spring concert or open house brings families into the building where the class pieces are on display.
• Add the privileges only your school has: principal for a day, reading the announcements, front-row concert seats.
• Offer items children can win, priced so families of every budget can bid: a class pajama day, first in the lunch line.
• Fill the gaps with class baskets. A class that can't manage a project can build a themed class basket instead.
• Use family and business donations for the higher-value items. Our donation request letters for schools cover how to ask.

Most class projects cost little: a canvas and paint, tiles, fabric squares. The parent group usually covers supplies from its budget or asks a local craft store to donate them. Framing and firing are the larger costs, and a framer or pottery studio asked early may donate them in return for a mention on the item.