Page 95 - The Decorative Painter Spring 2016

teacher's corner
In the Teacher’s Corner
Teacher’s Tips - Part 1
MDeveloping Art Camps for Children Donna Roskamp, Member of the Education Committee
y passion for decorative arts and teaching use in class or will you require them to have their own has led me down an interesting path. Not supplies? If you will provide the supplies how many sup- only do I enjoy being self-employed, but I plies do you have? How many your space will hold plays a get to do the two things I would look for in part in determining how many students you can handle.
Consider how many of each age group as well. I gener- In the article that was published in the August issue ally run my camps by myself. I have learned through trial
a job – creating art and teaching.
of the Ezine I talked about developing and promoting a portable teaching program. Since then I have been asked about my summer camp program I offer to children during the summer months. Developing, promoting and running a children’s camp program single handily is a big undertaking. It is also full of rewards and a big paycheck.
I have been teaching summer camps for nine years. In the past three years I can say I have finally worked out the bugs and have a smooth running program.
This article will cover in detail the three different com- ponents to running camps – development, promotion and implementation. Also known as get ready, get set...GO!
DECIDING IF THIS IS FOR YOU
So, you want to run your own summer camp? Here are a couple questions you need to ask yourself.
Do you enjoy working with children? No, really. Not everyone is cut out to work with kids.
What ages do you want to work with? Working with five-year-olds is far different than working with ten-year- olds. You may want to consider starting out with older children and then move on to the younger ones once you have worked a few bugs out of your program. That worked very well for me. I divide my camps into three groups: Ages 5-7 (must have completed Kindergarten – this makes a big difference!), Ages 8 and up, and an advanced camp. We will talk more about the age breakdown later on.
How many can you handle at a time? This is an in- depth question. First, are you providing the supplies for
and error that I can comfortably handle 15 in the 5-7 age group. Comfortably means I am constantly on my feet
and moving, but things are proceeding well. Oftentimes
if a camp fills quickly I will be asked to open more spaces. This year I decided 18 in the 5-7 age group is my max. I can do it, but I have a few more gray hairs and am frazzled by the time the parents arrive to collect their young artists. Any more than 18 students and I need a reliable assistant. Occasionally I will be asked to teach at a day care or spe- cial program with as many as 42 children. In that case the program I am working with needs to provide helpers to assist me. In the older age group, 8 and up, I am able to ac- cept more students because they require less help. In this group 15 is a breeze. Twenty is more work but manage- able. Twenty-five is my max. Of course you need to decide what is manageable for you. I suggest starting out small
at first. It is important that your camps run smoothly and successfully above all else.
Where will you hold the camps? Do you have your own space or do you need a location? If you have your own space that’s great. It will be more work when you get to the part
of promoting, which we will discuss in part two. Typically
if you will be working through a community education or parks and recreation department, space is not an issue.
What is your budget to get this up and running? It will cost more than you think, but you will more than make it up with a few successful camps.
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