Color Run Guide Book - The Ultimate Color Run Resource for Schools
The team at Party GOAT have put together a comprehensive book with step by step instructions on how to organise a successful color run. This is a must read resource for planning any color run. It is packed full of additional tips and advice all the way from the pre-planning stage, through to post event activities to maximize your fundraising results.
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How to organzie your own color run fundraiser
Color runs have exploded in popularity over the last decade, becoming a vibrant staple in fundraising events worldwide. These events are characterized by their joyous atmosphere, inclusivity, and, most notably, the bursts of color that transform participants into colorful works of art!
What is a school color run?
A color run is a fun run event where participants are showered with colored powder at various points throughout the course that is thrown or squirted at them by volunteers. Typically non-competitive, these runs emphasize fun over speed, making them accessible to all ages and fitness levels. The colored powder used and sold by Party GOAT is made of cornstarch and is safe for participants, animals and the environment.
The visual spectacle of a color run is undeniable, but the appeal goes beyond the vibrant hues. These events foster community spirit and provide a unique and memorable way to raise funds. For schools, it's an excellent opportunity to involve students, parents, and teachers in a collective effort that promotes school spirit and unity.
Adding Slime Stations
Party GOAT takes the color run experience to the next level by introducing colorful slime stations. Imagine the thrill as kids and adults alike are sprayed with our colorful, non-toxic slime from water blasters, adding an extra layer of excitement and a unique twist that’s sure to be a hit.
Where to buy color run powder?
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HOLI COLOR POWDER: 6 Color Pack! 18lbs (8.16kg) for Color Runs and Color Wars
Regular price $89.99 USDRegular priceUnit price per$119.99 USDSale price $89.99 USDSale -
COLOR RUN SLIME: 6 Colors for Epic Slime Fun Runs (60 Gallons)
Regular price $60.99 USDRegular priceUnit price per$74.99 USDSale price $60.99 USDSale -
INSTANT MUD! (BULK 60 Gallons)
Regular price $58.99 USDRegular priceUnit price per$79.00 USDSale price $58.99 USDSale -
INSTANT SLIME BATTLE PACK! (Blue, Yellow, Pink & Green)
Regular price $35.99 USDRegular priceUnit price per$49.95 USDSale price $35.99 USDSale
How to set up a color run?
Designing and setting up the course is a critical component of your color run event.
Course Layout: Map out a course that’s both challenging and manageable, typically 5K in length for older participants or 2-3K for younger participants.
Color Stations: Space out multiple color stations along the course where participants will be doused with color powder. Ensure each station is well-staffed and stocked with the necessary materials.
Slime Zones: Designate areas for slime stations, considering the logistics of water supply and clean-up. Click here to learn more about slime color runs.
Other Obstacles: Additional low cost obstacles can be included to add to the fun of the event and increase the number of challenges. Get creative with items around your school, home or organisation. Some simple examples include, large tyres to step through, a pop up tent with colorful pool noodles hanging down to run through, tunnels to crawl through, and balance beams to balance across.
How much color powder is needed for a color run?
Party GOAT color powder comes in 18lb boxes. For a standard color run, consider the following amounts of color powder per participant as a starting point.
For a 3k run (1.86 miles): About 0.375 pounds (6 ounces or approximately 170 grams) per participant. For every 100 participants you will need 2 to 3 boxes of Party GOAT color powder.
For a 5k run (3.1 miles): About 0.5 to 0.75 pounds (8 to 12 ounces or approximately 227 to 340 grams) per participant. For every 100 participants you will need 3 to 4 boxes of Party GOAT powder.
How much slime do you need for a color run?
Per Participant: We recommend preparing approximately ¼ gallon (1 liter) up to a ½ gallon (2 liters) of slime per participant. This ensures that each person gets a good sliming experience as they pass through the stations and allows for plenty of misfires from the volunteers.
Additional Activities: If your event includes a ‘slime the teacher’ celebration or slime crawl pools, plan to have additional slime on hand. For these special activities, consider the number of teachers participating and the size of the pools to calculate the extra amount needed.
By ensuring you have the right quantity of slime, you’ll create a fun and unforgettable experience for all participants, whether they’re running through slime stations, crawling through slime pools or watching their teachers and friends get slimed.
How much does a color run cost?
How much a color run will cost you is directly proportional to the amount of color powder and slime you're going to use for your event, plus how much you plan to spend on other obstacles.
At the time of writing this article, Party GOAT color powder costs $99 for an 18lb pack or $5.50 per lb.
Party GOAT slime costs around $39.99 for 40 Gallons or $1 per gallon.
To do an example, if you take the recommendation of 0.5lbs of color powder and 0.5 gallons of slime per participant, the cost per participant is $2.75 for color powder and $0.50 for slime = $3.25.
Cheap water blasters and tubs can be purchased from places like the dollar tree, or amazon, for around $1 each. A few blasters at each slime station won't add up too much in cost.
If you decide to make the rest of the obstacles yourself with items from your home or school, then in this example you need to ensure you are making more than $3.50 per participant to turn a profit.
If you decide to add bubble machines or inflatable obstacles the cost of these items need to be divided by the total number of expected participants to give you an idea of your overall cost per participant. This is important to know so you can set accurate ticket prices or ensure adequate sponsorships are received.
How to throw powder at a color run
Throwing by Hand: The traditional method involves volunteers throwing color powder directly from buckets, using small cups, or their hands. Party GOAT color powder comes in convenient, easy to hold 3 lb packages for easy distribution. You can hold the powder pack in one hand and toss the powder with the other. This method allows volunteers to be more mobile and ensures good color coverage.
Using Squeeze Bottles: Squeeze bottles can provide a more controlled way to dispense color powder that may make the powder last longer. They are especially useful for more targeted blasts of powder to avoid sensitive areas like the face. Party GOAT’s color powder packages were designed for easy pouring into condiment bottles.
How do you clean up color powder after a color run?
During the Event: Encourage participants to shake off excess color powder before leaving the event area.
How to clean up slime after a color run?
Slime on people and clothes: Excess slime is easy to wipe off your skin and will wash off easily with a garden hose or shower. Encourage participants to bring a change of clothes for after the event. Instant Slime is non staining and will wash out of clothes in a normal laundry cycle with warm water and washing detergent.
Slime on Grass: While slime will naturally degrade over time, thick piles can take a few days to break down. Spread any accumulated slime into a thin layer to expedite drying and decomposition in the sun.
Disposal of Excess Slime: Excess slime should be collected in trash bins or disposed of in designated garden beds, away from areas with foot traffic. For slime in tubs or pools, add salt to break down the compounds and revert it to water, which can then be safely poured away.
What do you need for a color run?
Color runs can have as many exciting obstacles as your imagination can create, but there are a few essential items required.
- Color Powder.
- Tables to sit the color powder (helpful to prevent the volunteers from continually bending).
- Markers to mark out a course.
- Instant Slime (if adding slime stations.
- Suck and Spray style water blasters.
- Tubs for mixing slime.
- Access to water.
- Volunteers to throw powder and spray slime.
What do they use in Color Runs?
Quality color powder products should be made from natural ingredients. Party GOAT color powder is made from cornstarch mixed with food grade colors. It is non-toxic, free of heavy metals and CE certified.
Are color runs safe for children?
Party GOAT's premium quality holi powder is gluten free, biodegradable and safe for children, pets and the environment.
Does color run powder stain your hair?
Regular soap, shampoo, and water should effectively remove color powder from your skin and hair. However, some color may persist for a few days, particularly on blonde or chemically treated hair. To prevent staining, consider applying a moisturizer to your skin and using a leave-in conditioner or coconut oil on your hair before the event. Alternatively, you might want to wear a hat or bandana.
Does color run powder ruin your shoes?
The color powder should wash out after the event and won't ruin your shoes. To help ensure there are no permanent stains, the sooner after the event you can wash your shoes the better. Give your shoes a good scrub with warm soapy water and they should come out fine. These events do get messy so it is always recommended to wear items that you don't mind getting dirty!
What happens if there is bad weather for a color run?
Weather is something that no one can control, so what happens if there is bad weather in a color run?
A little rain will actually make the colors look brighter, so it's fine to continue the event even with rain on the forecast. It may not be as easy for the participants to shake off wet powder, but at least the course will be self cleaned. We always recommend people bring a towel to wipe themselves off after an event.
If a more severe weather warning occurs, it is obviously recommended to postpone the event for the safety of the participants and volunteers in the color run event.
Are color runs safe for your lungs?
Party GOAT Color powder is made from 100% natural and edible ingredients (although it doesn't taste great so consuming it is not advised).
If you're worried about its effects on your lungs, rest assured that it's generally safe. However, like any powder, it's best to avoid contact with your eyes, nose, and mouth to prevent discomfort.
To ensure added safety, consider wearing protective eyewear, a bandanna, or a dust mask. You can also hold your breath while running through color station, or breathe through your nose, which has natural filters. While the powder might cause slight coughing if inhaled, especially for those with respiratory conditions like asthma, it's generally harmless.
Volunteers are instructed to apply the powder below the waist, and some events even offer colorful glasses for extra fun.
Tips to make your color run more fun!
White is a must: Make sure the participants wear white T-shirts so the color powder will show up best.
Start & Finish Line Festivities: Create a festive atmosphere at the start and finish line with music, decorations, and announcements.
Add Slime: Most kids are obsessed with slime and the very mention that there will be slime involved will add to the buzz and excitement of the day. Slime can be used for slime blaster stations, slime crawl pools or slime the teacher celebrations.
Download the guide: Download the guide via the form at the top of this page for loads more ways to make your color run the Greatest Of All Time.
What is fun run slime?
Fun Run Slime, also known as Instant Slime, is a product developed by Party GOAT for use in color fun runs and slime the teacher fundraisers.
It is made from special copolymers that allow you to make huge quantities of a super colorful liquid slime by simply adding water.
This slime is non sticky and non staining making clean up a breeze. It is also biodegradable, gluten free, hypoallergenic and eco friendly.
Instant Slime for Color Runs
Instant Slime comes in three different package types.
Battle Pack: Our Instant Slime Battle Pack contains 4 colors of slime powder and makes up to 10 Gallons of Green, Pink, Blue and Yellow slime. That's 40 gallons in total per pack. This is our most popular item for fun runs and is also listed on our website as fun run slime.
Expansion Pack: For larger events our Slime Expansion packs can be purchased to add 2 more colors to your event. This package makes 10 gallons of orange and purple slime 20 gallons in total. Buy a Battle Pack and Expansion Pack to have all 6 colors of slime.
Single Color Packs: For slime pools and other obstacles where a large amount of a sinlge color is required we have 25 gallon single color slime packages available in green, blue or pink.
Aside from fun runs, Instant slime is great for slime fights and slime parties.
Color Run Supplies
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HOLI COLOR POWDER: 6 Color Pack! 18lbs (8.16kg) for Color Runs and Color Wars
Regular price $89.99 USDRegular priceUnit price per$119.99 USDSale price $89.99 USDSale -
COLOR RUN SLIME: 6 Colors for Epic Slime Fun Runs (60 Gallons)
Regular price $60.99 USDRegular priceUnit price per$74.99 USDSale price $60.99 USDSale -
INSTANT MUD! (BULK 60 Gallons)
Regular price $58.99 USDRegular priceUnit price per$79.00 USDSale price $58.99 USDSale -
INSTANT SLIME BATTLE PACK! (Blue, Yellow, Pink & Green)
Regular price $35.99 USDRegular priceUnit price per$49.95 USDSale price $35.99 USDSale
Other obstacles for a color run
Mud Pits: A fun alternative or addition to a color run is a mud run.
Party GOAT Instant Mud takes all the hassle out of creating a mud pit for a mud run event. Each pack makes a huge 60 gallons of a clean mud like substance that the kids will love diving into or crawling through.
Dirt that you dig straight from the ground can have sharp objects in it like sticks, rocks and harmful bacteria. It also takes a fair bit of man power to dig up enough mud for your obstacles.
Party GOAT Instant Mud creates bulk mud with ease. A dark and safe mud to make your event even more fun. For more info check out this guide: How to do a mud run?
Slime Crawl Pools
Instant Slime can be used to make fun slime pool obstacles for your color run. The idea of these obstacles is that you make the participants get down low and crawl through the slime. You can make them crawl by setting up a cargo net over a pool or tarp and then spraying it with slime. The slime will make the plastic extra slippery to ensure that it is a challenge getting underneath the net.
DIY obstacle for a color run
Aside from color powder and slime many people like to add additional obstacles to their color fun run to make the course more entertaining and challenging. Simple obstacles can be set up between color powder and slime stations that participants need to run through, climb over, crawl under etc. For example you could:
• Set up a tyre run by laying out a bunch of spare tyres that participants must step through.
• Set up a small marquee to run through. Hang colorful pool noodles from the ceiling.
• Lay out nets to crawl under or tunnels to crawl through.
• Set up markers to zig zag between or low beams to balance across.
• Set up hay bails to jump over.
• If you have access to a foam machine or bubble machines, create fencing or barricades that contain the bubbles to an area that they can run through.
How to make money with a color run fundraiser
If you decide to host a color run for your school, you can make money in a number of different ways including ticket sales, sponsorships, food and drink sales, merchandise and more. We go into lots more depth with this in the ebook at the top of the page or via the link below.
How do color runs make money - Sponsorships
The most common way for schools and organisations to raise money is by asking participants to find sponsors to sponsor them for the race. Sponsors are simply people who are willing to donate a certain amount of money to help the cause and support the individual competing in the race.
This is a good option as there is no limit to the amount of money that participants may be able to raise for their school. Participants can also be incentivise to raise money with prizes provided if they are able to raise a certain amount of money, and grand prizes for the participants that raise the most money.
Slime the Teacher Celebrations
Sliming the Teachers: A school color run can culminate in a memorable and fun-filled celebration by including a “Slime the Teachers” event. This can serve as a fantastic incentive for students to meet their fundraising targets.
Meeting Fundraising Goals: Set clear fundraising targets for classes or grades, and promise the sliming of teachers as a reward for reaching these goals. This not only motivates students to fundraise but also builds excitement for the final celebration.
How to sell tickets to a color run
Another fundraising option is to charge participants per head to be able to participate in the event. Color runs are a lot of fun to participate in so it is not hard to find contestants willing to pay a ticket price to be able to run the course.
You want to make sure you charge enough to cover the cost of the set up (e.g. the color powder) as well as making some profits for your cause. $10 per head is a common charge for basic fun runs.
If you go all out with lots of expensive obstacles such as inflatables, climbing structures, foam tunnels and such you may be able to (and will want to) charge more per head for a grander event.
Color Run Food, Drink & Merchandise
Another way to make money at a colour run event is to sell food, drinks and/or memorabilia. If you have a large group of participants, volunteers and spectators, they are likely to get hungry at some point. Offering special food or drink packages, food trucks, or items of memorabilia, such as color run T-shirts, could be a good idea.
You could also sell fun novelty items such as colored sunnnies, armbands, or colorful wigs for participants to wear during the race.
Download our guide via the form at the top of the page for more great fundraising ideas.
How do you promote a color run?
Check out the ebook at the top of the pages for a list of strategies for promoting your color run.
More fun ideas for your school!
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Color Powder Activity Guide
Want to continue the colorful fun. Download our color powder activity guide via the link below. It is fun of fun games, science experiments, youth group activities and more. Color powder activity guide.
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Fun Run Themes
Want to add a new theme to your next school fun run? Get some inspiration from our guide below which contains the best fun run themes .
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Best Youth Group Games
Need some ideas for church youth groups, outside school care activities, or student reward days. The guide below is full of fun activities for kids.
