I'm starting a children's art club...how much would you pay?

[paintandhomemadejam]

Hello...I qualified as a primary school teacher 8 years ago but have returned to being a self employed artist (something I'd done for many years before).

Anyway, I'd like to combine my love of art and children but don't really know how much to charge.

The club will be for an hour after school or during holiday times with all materials provided. I'd love to hear what you think....

[AngieR17]

That depends on age, often it’s better to learn by free play rather than get bogged down by technical aspects at the beginning, this applies to adults too. Over an hour technical drawing skills may be too much for younger children too.

[emmafuzz]

Hi there, I run holiday art classes in Sussex and also after school clubs so would be happy to advise. I find the financing a real challenge as few parents are prepared to pay enough to even cover my costs, let alone make a profit and as a self employed artist, I also depend on them to pay the bills! The after school club is ran via a community group who receive charitable funding to make it work. Parents pay around £6 per session and they are mainly messy process orientated arts and crafts, ie. play! I prefer to offer more formal art skills in my own holiday classes introducing new techniques, art materials and artists, plus I like to use decent art materials - still student quality but not basic stuff that you get at places like the Works. As a consequence, I find I barely cover my costs, especially as I have to hire a room for double the time of the class - prep and clean up tends to extend my two hourly session to 4 hours room hire! I feel my best option is to seek out funding opportunities. If I could afford to offer for peanuts I would as with art cuts in schools, our services are key for children, however sadly I can't. Hope you found a resolution by now, would be interested to hear how.

[Hiralshukla64]

Hi, I am from Leicester. I am working as a Science Technician in one of the 6th form college in Nuneaton. I have always been interested in doing art activity with children. I want to start art club with KS2 children but AT HOME. I tried to find legal premises requirements but couldn't get enough and confirmed information. Can anyone help me please in this matter, if you are already running any club at home?
Many thanks.

[choccybarplease]

Hi, just come across your post from 18m ago...what happened? Were you successful? I'm in the midlands, 20 years of primary teaching under my belt, art coordinator...thinking of doing the same. Would be so grateful if you could let me know how it went.

[lljkk]

£25/term, max. Assuming about 45 minutes with a biscuit+squash thrown in. I pay that for DSs to do 2 hours of Scouts-Cubs every week, but I'd cough up a bit for art because DS2 is so keen to do an art club (they always get over-subbed).

[flipchart]

burberry
I know it is in Sussex BUT the question was how much would I pay for an art class.
Seeing that I live in the NW and don't know anything about the cost of living of Sussex I can only go off what if relative to my area.
The OP than has an idea of how much people would pay and adjust according to her region.

[sheeplikessleep]

Wish there was an art club at our school! I would pay up to £5 a session, based in Hampshire.

[Takver]

DD goes to a Saturday art class, it lasts for 1.5 hours and costs £5 a session including materials. The minimum age for the class is 7, my dd is 11 and one of the oldest. They do lots of clay, modrock (sp?), outdoor stuff like big scale sand sculpture, willow sculpture - things its harder to do at home / on your own.

For reference, we're in a low wage area, and classes here tend to be cheaper on average than elsewhere.

[Bonsoir]

When my DD was 4/5/6 she went to arts & crafts classes run by a very nice artist who was also a part-time primary teacher (Y1). She charged EUR 15 per session for 1h15 minutes, including materials. Small groups, very friendly. I thought it was very good value for money.

[burberryqueen]

it is in Sussex

[flipchart]

If it was in the North West of England I would pay no more than £4 a session if my kids were really into art.

[burberryqueen]

here OP check out the competition
link

[burberryqueen]

*true, even.
someone has wedged a toast crumb under my 'u'

[burberryqueen]

hm that is tre - especially if she is supplying all the materials i dont see how she could offer it at the prices that some people are suggesting, without it being ssome kind of charity.
There was a similar set up near me when I lived in Hove, which I beleive is the OP's area, and it was £10 a session (and that was a good few years ago)

[Bonsoir]

Helping the OP to understand her market and not be cajoled into offering services for peanuts.

[burberryqueen]

showing off bonsoir?

[Bonsoir]

My DD has done and still does a lot of art. We pay €630 per year for a two hour drawing and painting lesson every week and €630 for her and €905 for me to attend a sculpture class for two hours a week. The sculpture class includes visits to the Louvre and a lot of history as well as technique.

[MaddAddam]

My dds go to several art clubs at various prices. We don't mind paying as it's a major interest for all of them and they spend a lot of time doing art, but some classes are much more worth it than others.

13yo goes to a free school club at secondary (not much use for you), art students run it I think and I don't know much about that one.

All 3 (13, 12, and 9) often go to a 2 hr Saturday club which is £5 for 2 hrs, in a local art gallery, with "proper" artists and drawing on the current exhibitions. That's really good, it's usually about 6 children aged 6 up and quite varied art.

Then they all 3 go to a whole day art,craft and sewing club once a month on Saturdays, that is £5 for the day and they absolutely love it, it's a sort of juvenile Bitch'n'Stich, but it's run by someone who's retired so not bothered about the money. I don't see how she can make any money as she often buys them lunch out of that or takes them to art fairs.

They go to various other art classes too, in small local studios or art galleries, on a one off basis, we often pay about £5 a session, sometimes £12 for a 3 hr session but those are often no better than the free or cheap ones, so we've found little correlation between cost and quality of the class, but we really look for classes that are a bit more sophisticated than basic stuff as my dds have done lots of art and I look for classes that teach them something, also ones that introduce them to various art styles and artists. How to look at pictures, etc.

[Adikia]

Please do holiday clubs/some one off days over the holidays, my kids would love to go to something like that (we are in Kent). the craft sessions i take them to at a local museum are usually £4.50 for a one off, all their after school clubs are about £40 a term so would be happy to pay somewhere around that, more if you decided to do a longer day thing in the holidays

[Maile]

My dd would love this, I reckon holiday clubs might be better as there is so many choices for term time activities but less in holidays.

I would prefer a 2/3 hour thing, as I have other dc dropping off for 1 hr is more hassle than its worth. You would also need some sort of liability insurance I would think, esp if you a renting a church hall type place.

[RussianBlu]

£45 max.

[TurnipIsTaken]

I'm skint but if ds really wanted to do it I could find 30 quid a term.

[paintandhomemadejam]

southeastastra...I'm thinking of a longer holiday session...eg 2 or 3 hours for a holiday club class... but it's all thoughts in progress at the mo!

[paintandhomemadejam]

Thanks everyone for your comments!

I'm based in the Sussex area.

Well, thinking about it then, I might offer two kinds of classes...one that's more about having fun and getting messy with art and another that's much more about learning drawing and painting skills.

Both can be split for either age range (KS1 or 2) with up to 20 in a class.

But first, I better send out flyers and see what response I get!

Fingers crossed. I'm on my own with my son (DD is starting 3rd year at Uni now..!) and really struggle to make ends meet on my own. (...groan!)

But hey....I'm feeling positive!

Thanks everso much again for your helpful input!:)

[southeastastra]

ime parents want to sign up to an after school club that would guarantee their child would be cared for for that amount of time, hence setting up per term.

most parents would pay up front ime.

for holiday clubs, how many hours are you planning to put on activities?