Teaching painting to little kids at coop: easy or insane?

[poppy]

I need to teach a class, I am trying to think of something that doesn't require specialized knowledge or tons of prep. 

My age group is 5-8.

Art seems like the easiest thing.  

 

Either learn about a famous painter, then do something in that style -  i have Artistic Pursuits around here somewhere.

Or, tackle it project by project - I have Home Art Studio DVDs, and Art Lab, for ideas.

 

I can get the first shift, so kids could paint in the a.m. and pick up in the afternoon.

 

 

But I've never taught a creative class to little kids before and I'm not sure what to anticipate.

 

 

If you've done it, any tips or advice?

Ideas for other fairly simple classes welcome as well.

 

Thank you!

[YodaGirl]

I help in an art class for 5-7 year olds at co-op. The class cap is 12ish. It's totally doable with an assistant.

[Arcadia]

Are the parents going to stay to help? How many volunteers/teacher asssistants are there going to be? Are you going to be sponsoring and keeping the art supplies like art paper, paints, brushes? Do you have a drying rack or other space in the room to dry the students art pieces?

 

My kids used to go to the Free Sunday’s art program at Cantor Art Museum. A caregiver has to stay with each child, though they don’t mind a parent with two older kids. They also have five to six volunteers to help out. The photo in the link is basically how it usually look like https://arts.stanford.edu/event/70505/

[poppy]

1 assistant but I could have it as small as 8 kids.

[Miss Tick]

I like the Mary Ann Kohl art books for kids - check your library. For maximum enjoyment I would discuss the artist, explain the planned project, and then let the kids go at it and whatever comes out, comes out. I've seen a few painful classes where everybody had to follow the same rules.

 

Also, make a portfolio or notebook or something. That way the parents can see, at the end of the year, everything you all worked on. You might also consider a weekly email for the same basic purpose.

[2_girls_mommy]

We do art including painting with even the preschoolers. We keep large shirts on hand for smocks. The kids put them on. We have mom helpers set up the paint on the paper plates, get the waters out, etc. We have large cardboard sheets that go behind every paper before they paint. We have it down to a science I think. :)  All kids love to paint. 

[Cynful]

I've taught 3 classes to ages 3-5 maybe 6 year old sometimes and every time, I swore I'd never do it again.  LOL   I think if you had enough helpers or parents, it's doable but without, I'm not sure. 

 

Here's a list of coop class ideas I always wanted to do: https://www.pinterest.com/cminton0515/co-op-ideas/

 

Good luck,

[Dramorellis]

It's doable for that age range. I will say that I am currently doing a class for 4-6 year old (Marine Science/Oceanography) and we painted on Friday and it was crazy. I will not do paint or any messy materials without AT LEAST one helper. I have a TA and we had to get an extra person to help us out while she mopped. I will do it again but come prepared with wipes, smocks etc. There is a watercolor class my daughter is in (7) and it is much calmer. I've done a Five in a Row type class and that went over well so I was asked to do it again.

[Kidlit]

I'm doing this this year at our weekly homeschool co op! I have twelve first, second, and third graders. I called my class Primary Picture Book Art, so we're mostly looking at and getting our inspiration from children's book illustrators. I'm also relying heavily on the blog, units, and overall philosophy of Deep Space Sparkle. So far we've done chalk pastel self-portraits, some painted paper, and then several weeks on Eric Carle, which culminated in an underwater scene with a seahorse.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[katilac]

I've taught 3 classes to ages 3-5 maybe 6 year old sometimes and every time, I swore I'd never do it again.   

 

No doubt! Three is so much harder than five, imo. 

 

OP, with little kids and paint, you want to have a routine and rules that you go over every. single. time. 

 

Nobody starts until given the cue. This is what you do if you need a new color. This is how we clean up at the end. And so on. 

 

Other simple-ish classes for littles: 

 

*Magnets 

 

*Simple chemistry (ph testing, instant snow, vinegar and baking soda, slime, you can have a little discussion, show a video clip, then do the experiment). 

 

*Hands-on history; just pick a historical period, read and talk about it, and then some activities to go with it. Middle Ages has tons of easy stuff, take-offs on stained glass, illuminated lettering, coat of arms, but most eras will have fun things.