Lob a Choc

Lob a Choc

The ‘Lob a Choc ’ or ‘Chocolate Toss’ stall is an Australian tradition at fetes and markets and is a definite crowd pleaser. Chocolate always has and always will attract kids (and a lot of adults too!) like a magnet and make you a good profit.

How does the ‘Lob a Choc’ work, I hear you ask?

It involves setting up blocks of chocolate (a variety of big and small) randomly on a wire grid. Your players stand behind a line and throw coins, trying to land them on the chocolate blocks. If they are successful, the chocolate is theirs. If not, their money will fall through the wire and is yours.

Gather supplies!

So, let’s start at the beginning. In the lead up to your event ask for blocks of chocolate, multipack bags of mini chocolates, chocolate bars, boxes of chocolates – basically anything chocolate – to be donated.

There are a few ways to do this and you could nominate class groups to donate a particular type of chocolate or a quick way to get your donations in is to have a student free dress day and, instead of a gold coin donation, they have to pay with chocolate!

Now what?

Once you’ve got your chocolate, it’s time to think about your set up. If you know someone who’s particularly handy, ask if they can whip up a wooden frame with a wire cover on top. You can use chicken wire or something a little more solid or you can keep it a little simpler and use an old security screen door frame (minus the screen of course). Place the screen door or your wire grid over something to catch the coins. This could be a solid framed kids pool or something similar or even an empty trailer.

Depending on the space that you have available, you may need to play around with the height of your wire grid and the distance that people will be throwing their coins from. Keep in mind that it’s highly likely that the majority of your players will be kids.

We’ve put together a Pinterest board with some Lob a Choc photos.

The little kids

You can have different ‘starting lines’ for different age groups so the littlies have a better chance. I’ve even seen a separate Lob a Choc over a kids pool set up on the ground just for the little ones, with smaller chocolates but on little plates to make it easier for them 🙂

Up-Skill!

The more variety of chocolates you have, the more you can test your punter’s skills. Put the bigger blocks towards the back of the grid to make it trickier. With the mini bars (from multipacks), put a few of them in a small bowl or in a clip seal bag and if the coin lands in the bowl on the clip seal bag, that’s what they win.

The Golden Ticket! – Willy Wonka Style

To make things interesting, create some golden tickets which you can attach to a block of chocolate. These could entitle the winner to:

• Their money back
• A bonus throw
• Bonus prize – lucky dip or a free showbag
• Free ride ticket
• Free sausage sizzle or hamburger/drink
• Free face painting
• Free crazy hair

It’s totally up to you how many of these you have, and as a suggestion, you could put out 1 or 2 per hour depending on how many you have.

Strategic placement

Do give some thought as to WHERE your ‘Lob a Choc’ will take place. Somewhere covered or shady – an undercover area or gazebo – or even indoors is ideal. You don’t want your chocolate to be out melting in direct sun or heat. If it ends up being a stinking hot day, have a backup plan! Aircon will be your friend!

How much?

You’ll need to nominate how much you charge per throw or whether any value coin is acceptable and have clear signage displaying this. If you want to go all out, get some tokens (like poker chips) that you sell for a certain amount. Make sure you have plenty of chocolate on hand because you will be busy and most of all, have fun!

Written by Mandy Weidmann