HELP! Massive glass painting project with children aged 4-9! Advice desperately needed!

[Somersaults]

I'm painting five big stained glass windows with a bunch of school children from Reception to Year 4. The windows are made of perspex, not glass, and when completed they will sit over the existing glass windows.

I've done this before. (about fifteen years ago so my memories of it are kind of hazy!) Because the windows we did last time were so large we didn't use a relief outliner, we just used the black paint to create a thick outline, let it dry and then filled colour in after. I have no idea what brands we used or anything. I would like to do it this way again because I think the children are much more likely to be able to paint inside an inch wide line than a tiny narrow one! Also, the thought of piping that amount of outlining really doesn't sound appealing! Will this work?? Is there a brand of black paint that will be better than the others? The only brand I know of is Marabu but there must be others.

Also, because the windows are pretty big (1m by 70cm ish if I remember correctly) I'm going to need a lot of paint so is it possible to buy it in bigger jars than what I can find in Hobbycraft? Where has the best prices do you know?

If I'm buying online to get the best price I'm going to need to estimate how much I'll need and I have absolutely no idea! How far does a 50ml bottle go? Any ideas of about what area it will cover?

Is it worth looking at Marabu Fun and Fancy for an easy to use outliner?

It would also be very, very hard for me to oven bake the windows when they're finished due to their size so I'm going to need paints that can just air dry. The windows won't need to be washed or anything in the future, just wiped clean every now and then.

Due to it being with young children we will be using the waterbased kind of paints. The trial I did with the black paint wasn't a great success because the paint is so runny. Could I just use black acrylic paint to do the outlining with?

Basically I think I just need reassurance that using a thick line of black paint for outlining will work (and the best paint to use for this) and any tips on what products to use, where to buy them and any other advice you can give me before I start!

I would use black acrylic...it's thicker but you can water it down a little bit to make it flow better and to last longer...it's dense...and tough...but it DOES scratch off if you paint it on plastic sometimes. Maybe because they''ll be high up that won't be an issue.

I would think the outline thing is far better than trying to pipe stuff on...that' too tricky for little hands.

As for paint...they all seem to come in very small pots and the amout of windw you are doing will use a lot...this could be very expensive. Could you use transparent coloured film like this here ? You could cut the pieces to fit in the black shapes and then use pva or similar to fix them?

Hmmmm. I might try the acrylic. Someone in RL suggested getting the solvent based black and leaving the lid off for a while to thicken it up.

In terms of cost, the school are willing to get what I need for it. Perhaps watering the paints down a little will help. If I buy from Hobbycraft I can start with just one pot of the colours I need then pick up extra pots each night as it's on the way home. That way I don't order far more than we need. I just think it might end up more expensive than buying online. Are the Marabu Glas the ones to go for? Or are other brands better?

I have always thought Pebeo were the best...if you water it down you get a lighter colour though. And that goes for all brands of glass paint.

Problem with Pebeo before I even get into looking further is that they need to be baked. The windows are too big to bake!

Oh bugger. If you know the ones you mentioned are good...why don't you contact the manufacturers and ask t for a kind donation for the schoo? Many manufacturers will happily give materils for schools etc....or even a reduction because you need a lot....contact their HQ....PR department would be good...tell them youll mention them a lot on Mumsnet and maybe have the local paper do a piece on the project too!

Plus if you paint it backwards (I don't know how much detail you need so it might not work) you could mount it the wrong way round with the paint edge next to the window, which would protect it a lot & reduce washing needs

Ooh both great ideas! I will be contacting Marabu tomorrow!!

Good! See what you can get for free! You could call on the pretext of asking advice...and big up their product...if they don't offer you could then ask....if you do it by email then just ask outright!

My dad suggested asking first of all if they had any old stock they would donate, then if not ask if they would be willing to donate or send some samples. It's definitely worth asking. The worst they'll say is no and I'll be in the same position I'm in now! The advice from them will be good too! I'll let you know how it goes! Xxx

It also might be worth trying to get Hobbycraft to donate the paints, or some of them. That's two phone calls to make tomorrow!

Spoke to a lovely lady at Marabu who gave some good advice and is sending me out a few bits of left over stuff. They don't keep stock now, it's all handled by their distributor so she said she didn't really have anything there to send me. Waiting for a phone call back from the distributor now do don't want to tie up the phone ringing Hobbycraft. Marabu lady was very very great though :)

I've used black enamel paint for outlines. It's v tough and shiny and doesn't come off. You need to give it a long time for drying though and it's only suitable if the adults do the outlines I would have thought.

Ooh that might be worth looking at. It doesn't need baking though does it?

No baking. Just a few hours drying time. It will say how long on the tin and you can buy big tins as well as the ones to paint Airfix models with. It's really tough stuff too.

New update: the lovely lady at Marabu sent me a sample of Fun and Fancy which will do my outlining perfectly. Hobbycraft are going to order it in especially for me as it is not a product they have ever stocked. Marabu are sending me a few free bottles and Hobbycraft are going to donate a few bottles too which all adds up. I've been on and off the phone all week with Hobbycraft, Marabu and their distributor!

I'm getting quite excited about the whole thing now though, even though it means the end of my maternity leave and that I'm back at work :) :(

Oh good! Result! Shows it's worth asking....you might have inspired me to offer to do a crafty thing at DDs school!

I have been thinking about running an after school craft club but feel a bit afraid!

We have an after school art club for infants which is really popular. I think if your school is willing/able to put the resources in it could be very successful. I'd start by doing a few things that are finished within the one session to get the kids hooked and then you could start bigger projects that might take a few sessions to complete. I think things like that are fab. And I'd suggest offering it to one year group for a term and then to a new year group the next term. That way you can roll put the same activities each term to a new group. Saves you coming up with tonnes of ideas and means the children don't get bored repeating activities. And I'd also suggest infants unless you'd really rather work with older children, only because at most schools there aren't as many after school clubs on offer to the little ones.

What great tips...thanks! You're right about the infants lacking in clubs...shame that! I will see what HT says....she has already asked m once about a drama club but I hadn't the time then.

I'd imagine she'll bite your hand off! Our head would!