With just 17 shopping days to go, Mount St. Mary Academy in Kenmore tried a variation of shop till you drop this weekend, by giving harried parents the opportunity to drop and then shop.

In an effort to help shoppers while also raising some funds for an alumni scholarship program, the all-girls Catholic school ran its first-ever Holiday Drop and Shop program for four hours Sunday afternoon.

For $5 per child, parents could enroll their little ones for an afternoon of supervised activities in the schools gymnasium, ranging from movies and snacks to crafts and games like Holiday Bingo and Pin the Nose on the Snowman.

Then, the parents could either adjourn to the nearby student dining room, where holiday gift vendors had set up about 10 tables to peddle their wares, or leave the kiddies behind and head off to the stores.

We call it a drop and shop because people can drop off their kids, said Alexandra Fussell, the schools alumni coordinator and a member of the Class of 1996. Then they can shop here or go to the mall.

The vendors included independent craft artisans and shops, such as Around-again Baby Clothes of Snyder, Parkside Candies or Fussells Heart-felt Crafts, and home-party consultants for retailers such as Pampered Chef, Silpada and Discovery Toys.

Fussell said the organizers expected as many as 50 people to take advantage of the drop-off program and, as of 2 p.m., eight kids were enrolled. Mount St. Mary students staffed the childrens activities tailored for children 4 and older.

We want to make sure theyre potty-trained, said Amber Hartman, a member of the Class of 1993, who oversaw the kids area. Were not changing diapers.

Vendor arts-and-crafts fairs are not uncommon, especially this time of year, so organizers came up with the drop-off feature as a way to differentiate the schools effort.

Its wonderful, said Bridget Janese, from the Class of 1995, who dropped off her 4-year-old daughter, Sophia, while her sister-in-law watched her youngest child. Shes watching a movie now, but Im sure shell love the arts-and-crafts table and pin-the-tail-on-Frosty.

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High school alumni group lets parents drop, then shop