Wide World of Pledge-a-thons
Do just about anything -- but collect money for it.

If you can do anything at all, say our readers, then you can do that thing a lot -- and collect pledges in the process. These are some of our favorite ideas for marathon-style events. We heard about so many, we thought about holding an a-thon-a-thon!

Bike-a-thons and trike-a-thons Older kids complete miles and younger ones laps around a track. One Tricycle Rodeo in Upland, California, even had the trikes decked out like steeds, with the tots in full cowboy regalia!

Miracle Marathons Kids log a cumulative 26.2 miles of walking, running, or other exercise over a designated period of time.

Serve-a-thons Students volunteer a number of hours to clean up city parks, visit nursing homes, or perform other acts of kindness.

Read-a-thons Kids collect pledges for finishing books, or they participate in a marathon read-aloud session.

Think-a-thons Kids commit themselves to learning a certain amount of information.

Slime and Punishment
Inspire schoolkids to raise money by appealing to their principals! Many schools wrote to acknowledge the self-sacrificing fund-raising antics of their principals. To these brave leaders and the many others who ran laps, got soaked in dunking booths, took kids to lunch, and auctioned off their priceless time, skills, or pride for the common good: we salute you. A few of our heroes:

Mrs. Soltero-Ruizof the Wallen Andrews Elementary School in Whittier, California, who got a pitcher of slime poured over her head after the school passed its $2,500 penny drive goal.

Mrs. DeBartolo of the Coretta Scott King Magnet School in University Park, Illinois, who got "stuck for a buck" to the wall by students who bought $1 pieces of duct tape.

Mr. Lyon of Copper Rim Elementary School in Globe, Arizona, who fulfilled his promise to strut across the school stage in high heels once the students hit their fund-raising target.

Mr. Reehl of Sheldon Woods Elementary in West Olive, Michigan, who choked down a live night crawler after students surpassed their $6,000 fun run goal.

Mr. Gilmore of John J. Jennings School in Bristol, Connecticut, who celebrated a lucrative read-a-thon by kissing a pig.

When "War" Makes Cents
Use a classroom competition to rake in bucks by the bucketful. A penny war combines the simplicity of a donation jar with the fun of a good-natured prank, and a number of readers wrote in to praise this fund drive's remarkable effortlessness.

Classrooms compete against one another by collecting pennies in labeled milk jugs; the classroom with the most at the end of the week wins. Sound simple? Not so fast. Students can sabotage other collections -- and yet benefit the school -- by filling the jars of their rivals with silver or paper money: every nonpenny cent gets subtracted from the penny total. Some schools tally daily totals to fan the flames of friendly rivalry; others wait until the end and award the winning class a prize. Either way, it's one coin-op competition the school can bank on.