Summer Art Camp Series: Part 3: Money, Liability, Safety

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A small art camp can be a great way to earn extra money.

Are you thinking about running an art camp this summer? For three summers, I ran a small art camp for kids entering grades 1-6. It was a great way to earn extra money. But there are some practical issues you need to think about.

Money:

How much should I charge? Obviously, you need to see what others are charging in your area. I charged $175 for a 5 day session, at 3 hours/day. The price included all supplies and a snack.

Here are some questions the parents asked me:

  • Do you have a day rate?
  • Can we go to camp M,W,F only?
  • Can we bring a cousin who is visiting for a day?
  • Can I have a refund if my kid gets sick?

Think about prorating. And think about which projects you will offer – can they be done (and dry?) in a day?

Are you going to ask parents to put down a deposit to hold their space? (You could ask for a check, and then not cash that check until the first day of camp).

Record keeping:

I kept good financial records.  I set up a special checking account and got a debit card associated with it so I could keep my camp finances separate from my home finances.

Are you going to declare your proceeds on your taxes? You are supposed to (at least here in the U.S.). I did declare my earnings, and was surprised that I had to pay not just federal and state taxes, but a self-employment tax when I went solo. Run your art camp ideas past your accountant before you start planning – it may save you some headaches next April.

I once offered my camp at the local community center. They had a ‘split’ – I think it was 60%/40%. They collected the money. They paid me, and withheld taxes.

Where to hold camp?

I held camp in my garage and back yard, with trips to the playground down the street. I once held a short camp at our community center. I have even seen an artist hold camp at a local park: she put a shade structure over a picnic table, and set up shop right there. My colleague once rented out studio space in the back of a gallery, with ‘recess’ at the adjacent park.

No matter what camp you offer, and where you offer it, you need to think about safety and liability.

Safety:

At minimum, you need a first aid kit. If you work for a school district you may have already had CPR or first aid training. If not, you may want to brush up on your first aid. You need to know the kids food and insect allergies. I asked parents to send their kids with hats and sunscreen so we could stay outside if we wished.

Liability:

I bought camp insurance from this company. Price varies according to how many kids you have. Because I held camp in my own home, I added an umbrella policy to my homeowner’s insurance.

I had parents fill out a camp health and emergency form (you do want to know about allergies/meds). There is a ‘hold harmless’ section on this form…think about putting some sort of hold harmless language on your forms.

Ratios:

My ratio was 1:8. I sometimes had a teenage helper – then I could accept 10-12 kids instead of 8. Think about the minimum number of sign ups you need to make it worth your while to hold camp. Teenage helpers are great (p.s. if you know any teens, they could set up their own art camp and do crafts with neighborhood kids this summer).

Hours of operation:

I had one a.m. session from 9-12, and a p.m. session from 12:30 – 3:30.  The first and last 15 minutes were open to free draw, books and art games as kids did not all arrive on time. We worked about an hour, took a break, and then worked a second hour.

Here are some issues that (occasionally) came up:

  • Parents dropped off kids too early
  • Parents picked up kids too late
  • The 30 minute break between sessions was too short for me.

Good luck! I hope you have a fun summer.

This is part 3 in the art camp series.  The other parts are polymer clay projects and shrinky dinks projects.

Summer Art Camp Series Part 2: Shrinky Dinks

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Shrinky Dink 'Mini Monets' are about 2 inches long when shrunk.

Shrinky-Dinks are shrinkable plastic sheets. They are available in frosted, white, brown. You can draw on them. There is a variety you can run through your printer. They are also known as ‘Shrinkles’ in the UK. A similar product is Grafix?

If you are unfamiliar with this product, you are in for a surprise. When baked, Shrinky Dinks shrink to 1/3 their size and 9 times their original thickness.

Shrinky Dink dog charm necklace.

Materials:

All you need to do is cut a sheet of Shrinky Dinks into 1/4s. Ask kids to draw on the rough side. Use sharpie and colored pencils. You can cut into a shape at this point. If you are making a pendant or earrings, punch a hole before baking.

If at all possible, let kids view the baking/shrinking process. It is magical!

My colleague Nancy prints out masterpiece coloring sheets and reduce them on a photocopier. Students trace them in sharpie and colored pencil. She shrinks them in the school oven. Instant mini-masterpiece!

Nancy also loves illuminated manuscripts. She has her students design a fabulous first initial and trace onto shrinky dink.  She finishes with a magnet.

Tips:

  • Ask kids to sketch first. Rough ‘n’ Ready is see-through so they can easily trace a finished sketch.
  • White, black and brown shrinky dinks are not traceable.
  • Provide lots of small size images for tracing: cartoon characters, line drawing of animals are popular.
  • Punch before baking
  • When baking, let the plastic warp, shrink and re-flatten in the oven. Do not pull out when warped! Allow plastic to remain in oven 30 seconds after shrinking.

Listen up: YOU CAN DO AN ENTIRE ART CAMP JUST USING SHRINKY DINKS!!! This is by far the most loved and versatile art camp material of all.

Need more inspiration? Go to Etsy and type ‘Shrinky Dink’ in the search box. Look what you can do!

Want more fun art camp ideas? Check out my art camp part 1 post. Money, liability and safety are covered in art camp part 3.

Clay in a Day: Polymer Clay Projects For Art Camp

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Summer is almost here!  Are you looking for fun, engaging art camp projects that can be completed in a session or two? Try polymer clay!

I taught my own small-group art camp for three summers. I use ceramic clay during the school year, but I don’t have a kiln of my own. I was able to do two of my most popular ceramic clay projects using polymer clay.

Polymer Clay Sculpture

Materials:

  • White polymer clay in bulk, such as Sculpey Original Polymer Clay 1.75 Pounds/(white)
  • Toaster oven or kitchen oven
  • Aluminum foil (I use my favorite pre-cut pop up foil sheets)
  • Toothpicks
  • Acrylic paint and small brushes
  • Pan or cookie sheet for baking

White Sculpey is available in boxes up to 24 lbs.

 

I adapted ceramic lesson plans for use with Sculpey. I started with this ceramic penguin lesson from Deep Space Sparkle (AKA “Patty’s Penguins”). Here is my version in polymer clay.

Protect work surface with foil for easy clean up.

Penguins made with white Sculpey, painted with acrylics.

And here is my ceramic sea rocks project in polymer clay:

Polymer clay sea rocks painted with acrylic.

Tips:

  • Give each camper a sheet of foil to protect work surface. Polymer clay won’t stick to it, and you can throw it away at the end of camp
  • To condition Sculpey: give each camper a fresh piece and have them twist it over and over as if it were taffy. Ready in 2-3 minutes!
  • A toothpick is a super tool for Sculpey, both for adding detail in the soft sculpture, and for dotting on color in the baked piece.
  • Dedicate a baking sheet (and maybe a garlic press) just for polymer clay use. You don’t want to use it for food after this.
  • Cover baking sheet (or toaster oven pan) with foil before use.
  • Make small projects – design the project to fit your (toaster?) oven.
  • Michael’s crafts sells Sculpey in bulk here in the U.S. – check the internet, Sunday newspaper or mail for a coupon before you shop there.

 

In the U.S.: use coupon to get Sculpey in bulk.

You can do cool things with Sculpey that you can’t do easily with ceramic clay.  For example, we made Oaxacan Alebrije porcupines by inserting painted toothpicks into Sculpey. I baked them in my kitchen oven. Success! Sculpture in a single afternoon.

Oaxacan Alebrije porcupine made from Sculpey and toothpicks, painted with acrylic.

Oaxacan Alebrije insect made from Sculpey and paperclips.

 

These projects were hits with all campers from grades 1-6.

If you haven’t tried polymer clay, give it a try. No dry time, no slip required! Its ‘clay in a day’.

Want more ideas for art camp? Check out my art camp part 2 post. You also might want to check out art camp part 3: money, liability and safety.

High Tech Famous Artist Scavenger Hunt

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This year our art show featured a famous artist scavenger hunt – with a special twist : we used smartphones and QR codes to discover facts about famous artists.

We added square black and white QR (Quick Response) codes to all of our famous artist displays.

What are QR codes?

Some of you reading this are very familiar with QR (Quick Response) codes, but many are not. QR codes are square, black and white, pixellated computer-generated images. You need a smartphone (or camera-equipped iPod touch or iPad) plus a free scanner app to read a QR code.

Teacher uses a smartphone to scan the Modigliani QR code.

What happens when you ‘read’ (scan) a code with your smartphone?

Your smartphone opens to a new website, or displays text of your choice.

How To Read a QR code:

  • download a free scanner app (we use Red Laser) to your device
  • scan the QR code

Example:

Our QR (Quick Response) code for Pablo Picasso.

 

Here is the text you get when you scan QR code 8 above:

‘Pablo Picasso was born in Spain. He painted every day of his adult life. He is famous for his Cubist artworks. Kindergarteners made collage portraits inspired by Picasso’s unusual portraits.’

If you are reading this and own a smartphone, pull up this post on a laptop or computer and give it a try. I was actually able to scan my own computer screen using the Red Laser app.

How to generate your own QR codes (its easy and free):

Google ‘QR code generator’. We liked the websites http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ and http://www.qrstuff.com/

The generators allow you to add your own text. We entered a brief 250-character statement about each famous artist, and then generated the code.

Why?

Our school is piloting a 1:1 iPad/iPod touch program in the 4th grade.  The entire grade is utilizing the devices in the classroom. I thought the QR code scavenger hunt would be a fun way to integrate technology with art education, to get parents involved with technology, and just to have a fun family activity at the art show. Many parents were completely unfamiliar with codes – it was great to see kids showing their parents how to read them.

Learn More about QR codes and art ed:

I originally learned about QR codes in art education from The Teaching Palette and Mini Matisse. Thanks!

 

What about those famous artists? Check out our scavenger hunt form:

Completed scavenger hunt form.

We studied 10 artists this year. Click on the links to see the lesson plans.

1. Dale Chihuly 2. George Seurat 3. Alexander Calder 4. Claude Monet 5. Diego Rivera 6. Amadeo Modigliani 7. Wayne Thiebaud 8. Pablo Picasso 9. Wassily Kandinsky and 10. Henri Matisse

Thanks to:

Two (awesome!) fourth graders, Max and Arman, generated the QR codes for all 10 famous artists for  the 2012 art show, our 4th grade teachers, and fabulous parent volunteer M.B.G., who prepared all the forms and signage for the scavenger hunt.

 

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