Science festival packing list - string, scissors etc and other practicalities

Tape: brown packing tape, sellotape, masking tape, Pens: marker pens, biro pens, colouring in pens, Pencils: colouring in pencils, pencil sharpener, Tethering: string, glue (Pritt stick), blue tack, cable ties, Cutting: kid-safe scissors for activities, scissors for adults, scalpel or other thing to cut open boxes of material, Decorations: laminated sheets, logos, QR codes, bunting, painted stone weights, plastic table cloths, Other useful items: small plastic boxes to put pens / pencils in, plain paper, hole puncher, comments book + pen, evaluation forms (if used), stickers, post-it notes, Health & Safety: baby wipes, antibac spray, plasters, note location of medical tent once on-site, black bin bag for waste, green bin bag for recyclables, Packing: return address labels, pen to address, tape + scissors.

Festival of Communities 2023 - marquee at the ready

I did a stall at an event on 10th June. The event itself wasn't actually a science festival (much wider remit, across all departments of QMUL and with stalls from local Tower Hamlets organisations too) so I did struggle a bit with the title of this post! 

Trapping the packing list info (summary above, detail below) will certainly be useful for me the next time I do this, and I thought it may be useful for others. 

During the preparation phase of this particular event I've made, as I always do, extensive use of WorkFlowy the excellent free list-wrangling tool that I've used for at least a decade. You can write a to do list as bullet points, then click a button to mark-as-complete any of your list items. You can also move tasks within the bullet point list (up and down, or indented). It's fab. You can view my WorkFlowy event-packing list.

Anyway, here's the annotated list with explanation.

Tape (masking, sellotape and packing tape)
Masking: We produce 20 page A4 magazines which come in cardboard boxes which double up as transport for everything I do. A bit of packing tape strengthens the joins and closes them so that tape is essential - I keep one in a box and one in my bag.

Sellotape: Some of our activities involve folding paper and taping it together so sellotape for that (also need scissors that will cut sellotape and kid-friendly paper-cutting scissors don't). Definitely keep adult-friendly scissors in your bag too.

Masking tape: just useful to have around. Sometimes you can hold something in place or stick it to the wall of the marquee tent (where other tape is not allowed).

Pens (marker, colouring in)
Marker pens: useful for re-addressing boxes if you can't find the labels you so carefully placed at the top of one of them...

Biros: if you have any evaluation forms that you want adults to fill in they'll find these types of pens a bit easier than colouring in pens.

Colouring in pens: for colouring in various activities. Downside of pens is loss of lids and mess.

Pencils
Coloured pencils: often preferable to pens but less vibrancy in coloured in items.

Pencil sharpener: several of these usually on the go. 

Festival of Communities 2023 - coloured pencils and some stickers

Tethering (string, glue (Pritt stick), blue tack, cable ties)
100% promise you that you'll be glad you packed these. Cable ties are great for pinning up laminated QR codes. We use glue sticks for some of our paper-based activities. 

Cutting
Kid-safe scissors: useful for cutting paper not much else

Adult scissors: useful for cutting sellotape, but keep away from activity table and stow in bag.

Scalpel: ideal for opening boxes of material without damaging. Keep very much away from children. Know where your plasters are before making your first cut.

Festival of Communities 2023 - the post box

Decorations
You probably want to make your stall look nice and inviting. A few years ago I made some bunting with our project's logo on it, printed the bunts out on A4 paper then laminated them. Hole punch and connect with a bit of string. We also have stones painted with our logo on (stones and paint from Hobbycraft) - these are for holding things down when the wind gets up. Plus bits of paper saying what we do that adults can take away. For drive-by visitors we have QR codes that take people to our website - you can create a bit.ly link and get a QR code from that, or you can use QRstuff to get one. 

Other useful items
Because we have so many pens and pencils I got some cheapo collapsible plastic boxes to put them in from a pound shop (they usually cost about £5 each), plain paper is always useful as is a hole puncher (for affixing bunting via holes for string, or laminates with cable ties etc). We always have a comments book plus pen - visitors use the front, stallholders can add notes at the back for future improvements. We don't always use evaluation forms on stalls but I'm adding it in so I don't forget. If you've got kids doing an activity they might like a sticker that says "I did this activity". I make all of ours using Ryman's labels and mailmerge, with the design done in a combination of Inkscape (free) and PowerPoint (not free). Post-it notes are always handy.

Festival of Communities 2023 - coloured stickers

Health & Safety
Obviously you need to do a risk assessment before the event anyway but it's also a good idea to pack some plasters (paper cuts!) and antibacterial wipes / spray etc. To keep your stall tidy I recommend a black bin liner for waste and a green one for recyclable stuff which you can then decant into the official bins (or take home!). Once on site make sure you know where the medical tent is so that you can tell others on the stall and point any injured members of the public towards.

Packing to go home again
At the end of the event anything to be returned needs to be boxed up and addressed. I usually print large address labels and stick these on the tops of boxes. But if you can't find them (it happens!) then some of that plain paper, the marker pens, your scissors and tape will help. You'll need the packing tape to secure the boxes and scissors to cut it.