hmm, is this the right place to post? thinking of setting up kids art club - tips/ideas/words of wisdom? anyone?

[jeangenie]

am racking my brains on ways to get out of my particular rat race hell and given that I have an MA from Chelsea College of art and am pretty damn creative and tend to like most kids I meet I thought of setting up some art clubs for the little blighters

thinking along the lines of two separate types of sessions
1 for preschoolers where the parent/carer comes too and we do nice messy crafty creative fun stuff which I lead, provide materials for and clear up after. Would probably run this in the morning and have classes of about 45 mins to an hour
2 for older children after school, maybe age group 5-8 or so. Parents could drop off and we'd do lots of messy sticky creative crafty stuff again which I would provide materials for and clear up after. Am thinking maybe an hour and a half for this session
I'd run the classes along side school terms and maybe if things went well do longer sessions for the older ones in school hols
so, what do y'all think? could it be a goer? how many of you would be interested in this kind of thing for your little darlings? or are you happy for them to let their creative juices flow at nursery/school?
anyone got any good ideas on how I could really guage interest in my neck of the woods (London SE24 if anyone is local) so that I could figure out level of interest?
also, if I hired a hall/public space for this what would the insurance situation be does anyone know?

all thoughts/advice gratefully received

My friends mum does this as she is very good at art and and an excellent painter. My eldest goes (10) and stays after for hour and 15 to an hour and 30 mins in her house. I give her £7, but this covers all materials and drinks and snacks.

All craft supplied. Paints, glue, fabric, canvas, old shirts to cover up in - you name it she has it. Takes about 6 at any one time so she can help them.

They have a great time but I only do it as she is a friend and I trust her. She does not advertise and it is and extension of a hobbie for her. She enjoys watching the children create. She also teaches them different techniques and basic things like colour therory. She enters their work into exhibitions and competitions for them.

Not sure how you would organise a hall and provide all the craft material for a session and clean up afterwards.

Infact I must go round and give her a gold star!

Good luck. If you run it as a business, you will need to look into it more.

Oh and she only does it 2 afternoons a week, term time.

The big provider of this kind of service in South London is Arty Party...you could take a look at how they do it?

You may qualify for an arts grant possibly [I'm in Ireland so it may be different here]

Great idea, though.

I used to run art workshops, but for adults and provided all materials.

Definitely think it would be a goer, but perhaps approach some local schools and nurseries to see if they could help with spreading the word through notice boards etc

Good Luck

[waves frantically at TnOgu]

I used to go to one with dcs when they were pre-schoolers. All craft supplied and you made what you were told, iyswim. So a template was there and then you did it with your kids. Was fun (though by my third pasta tractor was beginning to suffer a bit). Then there was a break, coffee squash etc, and then did music and dancing stuff which was good as could only really do art stuff for an hour tops.
Love the thought of an afterschool art club. We'd go.

I’m an art teacher with 30 years experience wondering if there is scope for setting up an after school art club. I have taught in primary and secondary settings. I am aware that art is hardly being taught in a lot of primary schools at the moment. I am interested in doing proper skill based activities for older kids 9-14 yrs. Those that are really interested. I have had a lot of success in helping kids get Art scholarships. I am also aware of the lack of social contact outside school amongst the less extrovert kids. I don’t know how much appetite there is for this and at this stage I’m not sure where, the cost and numbers of kids I would want. I’m based in east London. I want to set up something which offers proper creative learning. I do a wide range of activities, drawing, painting, print-making, sculpture and some textile based projects. I am currently teaching full time but I am hoping to change my working life after next year.
I have a teenager just doing A levels at the moment so I am a parent too!