ladies, i am facing painting at an AS girls group this weekend, any pointers.

[misdee]

anything i should be aware of? sensory issues to be careful of, etc?

i use sponges and brushes, dont use sprays as i find them a bit hit and miss, have glitter powders and shimmers as well which are applied with a dry brush.

btw, i have been painted myself to see what it feels like and it is very tickly.

am not sure if all parents will be present, if they are, then will ask them :)

I wonder if maybe doing a test patch on arm/hand first might be a good idea, so those who haven't had it done before could get a feel for what it's likely to be like and a chance to back off it they think it might be too much?

i am numbering the girls arms in red paint before i start, to keep order and also keep an eye on any reactions that may occue (never had a reaction yet in well over 100 kids though)

sorry not red, just facepaint. i meant keep an eye for any redness occuring.

The first and only time my DD, asd, had hers done she got anxious and impatient but loved it at the same time.....just be quick!

Think about doing cheek details rather than a full face if someone has a problem sitting for long enough, or gets stressed about paint in hair or over eyes.
Also consider doing arms and/or hands instead.
Painted my son's with tiger stripes because he wanted to be painted but couldn't do paint on face.
He was delighted because he could see he was a tiger.

I can paint ds2.. But... Once he has chosen I have to work damn fast.. I'm talking about 3 mins for a full face tops.. I have to stop twice through for breathing gaps ( he holds his breath.

Allow for wiggling and I have to tell him which bit I'm doing next.. So he knows what is happening and what to expect.

Bloody good luck ! :)

hmm, having been a facepainter, pre-children, i will now try thinking about it from a SN pov!

dd2 (likely AS) hates, hates, hates the tickliness.

she can't even bear to have her fingertips painted for finger painting.

but she would dearly love to have her face painted, i reckon (as in, she would love to be a tiger/princess/whatever)

is there anything you could do with just your fingers? maybe a butterfly in glitter gel? less tickly, for sure.

agree with Goblinchild that small designs, in case of waiting too long/not able to bear too much painting.

so details form your designs, really - quick 2 minute jobs on a cheek.

sponges are much better than brushes, imo.

what designs are you going to do? you might be better off working out 4 or 5 that you can do either full face or with small details, so that you aren't caught out with a child asking for, eg spiderman (god I used to hate doing that web!) and not being able to tolerate that much tickling.

TACC - holding breath is quite common, I used to find. Loads of children used to do it - it really is very tickly! - I expect the children are trying to weigh up how much they want to be painted with how uncomfortable it is, regardless of SN

also, misdee, remeber that a child might not understand what you mean by an instruction - either demonstrate what you mean (eg for tilting head, closing eyes gently, etc) or could one of your dds be there as demo, to give the paintee something to copy?

For those who don't like facepaints, try temporary tattoos (just on arms and hands though)

i was thinking of buying in some glitter tattoos for thos who dont want faces done. what do you think? should be getting details tonight if any siblings there.

i can do full faces (tigers, detailed butterflies etc) in under 5mins, and small cheek and half face designs in a couple of mins.

dd's will be with me, and i often show little kids how i want them to tilt their heads, and how to close eyes without squinting, and work around eyes if i know kids wont tolerate over eyes iyswim.

def get some tatoos, and have some spare brushes to hand for the children to try before hand. MOst of the parents will be there, its going to be busy. D will be there with J and T too so feel free to ask for their help too

spare brushes would be good lisa, thank you. i am ordering some new bits anyway, as one of my brushes snappped and been working with a teeny brush.

will go shopping now.

thank you for the tips, please keep them coming :)

There was a face painting course at my kids' school when DS1 was in reception and he had the chance to have his face painted 3 times. The first time, he went for it then scrubbed it all off as soon as he got home. He had no allergic reaction but just hated the feeling of it on his face. Subsequent times, he became very anxious when he knew the sessions were going to be on and needed lots of reassurance that he didn't have to get it done.

oh i wont paint any child who doesnt want it done.

I didn't think you would. If they're prevaricating, a tiny butterfly or star on the cheek or something might be a nice thing to offer to see if they like it, though. I think DS1 would have been less distressed by that as his first experience!

thought i would update

i painted some faces,. but did a lot of arm painting as well. i think it went ok :)

Well done you, anything surprise you thet we hadn't thought about?

nope.

but i did get asked if i could learn to do hennatattoos by the older girls there.