your thoughts appreciated - setting up art club for kids

[desperatehousewife]

I am about to set up an art club for toddlers.

It will hopefully be held in a child friendly cafe twice a week (therefore decent coffee for mums). I want to make it a bit different from the usual type of thing on offer - I really want it to be fun for the mums/carers/dads too.

It will be an hour and a half at a cost of £5 per session. I provide all materials and do all the clearing up.

I will theme it each week and there will be a variety of mediums available to experiment with.

What for you would make it a bit different, or make it so you came away feeling you had got value for money?

I'd be really interested in your thoughts and advice.

This is a big step for me - been floundering being an at home mum for the past 3 years and am desperate to get out and do something again that is creative and inspiring.

Thank you in advance

We go to Mucky Pups and find it great. The art classes are theme based but simple enough for preschool children. We have made fridge magnets this week, and animal masks to wear at home. Last week we made a mum and child holding hands picture for mothers day. There are several different activities which I would not try at home because of the mess. My son enjoys experimenting with the different materials which is fine for his age. Anything more advanced than their set up would have to be aimed at an older age group. It costs £5 as well but I would think most of this pays for the hall!. They have about 20 in each group.

thanks hipart

I also found 'itsa-bitsa' sessions were really well received. It was a tv show in the 90's about making junk into things. I ran a Brownie/Guide unit for 10 years and I know how hard it is to get them all involved and they are older than the ones you are working with.

Keep hold of some of the everyday rubbish, like egg boxes and card boxes of all sizes, don't squash them if you can avoid it. Much fun can be had just making them into towers. But egg boxes segments make great bells or flowers.

A book I would swear by Playgroup handbook mine is my mum's from the 70's and it's american, but is a resource that has helped me out of loads of stuck in the mud moments. It's broken down by season, and can easily be adapted up or down for the age group.

I still have shelves full of books, picked up second hand or from charity shops, great for ideas. And I must admit how pre-child I was, they all have different colour post it notes that relate to 'type' of craft, paper, fabric, outdoor, indoor. That was pre DD days when I had nothing better to do than colourcode my craft books. :o

Not sure if it's different in England - or if things have changed since I opened my shop - but when I enquired about needing a Disclosure (Scottish equivalent of the CRB) I was told that the scheme is voluntary, you don't HAVE to have it. Also, if the parents are going to be there and you're never going to be on your own with the children then I think it's unnecessary. What I think you will need, is public liability insurance. Even if you're holding your workshop in a different venue, the workshop is your business and if something were to happen it would be you who is held liable. It's not expensive to get.

I think £5 for 1.5h is very reasonable for Brighton but I would try and do some market research within your local community - try not to rely on friends because they tend to (unwittingly) give you the answers you want, rather than the reality. We offer messy play at my shop, it's £4.20 for an hour and the 2nd sibling pays half that. The process isn't guided at all - it's free play, to allow the children to explore their creativity themselves. We run our class twice a week and it's very popular.

I feel that same as some of these people last one I went to was one hour and the women was awful she just said there is the paint and there is the tactile things for the younger children. This I thought was a cop out on her part as she did nothing! It would of been nice to base it around a theme and been shown a new activity everyweek. That you could have maybe even a handout on and left to experiment. It would also be nice to take the made items home and for them to be used in the home for learning to talk purposes. It was wonderful as at my last craft session my daughter put faces into a painting of a bus (this is now proudly displayed on the fridge) and every time she sees it she says bus, very basic i know but at least she learnt a new word. Would also be great if the age range could be specified as very often when I take my daughter there is older children as well who tend to grab all the stuff first. I think it is great what you are doing I am so jealous would love to do something like this myself :)