Lizzie's Craft Clubs

My family and I have always been interested in art and crafts and over the years, we have collected a vast amount of artistic materials. My mother was a primary teacher and has never been able to throw anything away which may have the potential to be made into something else! Various older relatives and friends have passed on boxes of buttons, sewing threads, fabrics and painting equipment. By 2006, we found we had a problem storing it all and having to clear up in the house after doing some painting or other activity, especially in our bedrooms. So, we decided to build a studio in our garden which is now our work area and holds all our creative materials, as well as being the store for Alexandra's greetings cards. Find out more about these by visiting her website: www.andacards.com

Once I had the new studio space available, I was able to start up my craft club for local primary school aged children on Saturday afternoons, something I had been hoping to do for a long time. I have various friends who come to help with the practical support, while I give verbal encouragement and ideas.

My first group ran from November to Christmas 2006, and I had 6 children making various festive decorations and collages. The first couple of sessions, I had two helpers, and the children rotated activities. I quickly decided that I only need one helper, as I found I was not doing enough with two other adults present. Another decision I made was to have all the children working on the same activity as this gave a better whole group dynamic.

I continued to run the club through 2007 and had a Spring theme, a Seaside group, a Flowers club, an Animal group and another Christmas club to round off the year. This year I have had a People and Portraits club which finished in June. I am planning another theme for the early autumn term and a Winter themed group for after half term. I choose a different age group for each course and select activities to suit that level of ability. My favourite age is 6 to 8 year olds, as I find their work really expressive and original.

I always like to have a practice at each activity I plan, to see how long it is likely to take, and try to find any possible difficulties children may have. However, I am nearly always surprised by how well they tackle the activities! Because there are a range of activities, every child is good at something, and I have found the children very good at encouraging and helping each other. Quite often I have to have two additional activities up my sleeve if a task is completed quicker than planned. I try to encourage the children to look at their work carefully to make sure it is completely finished, but sometimes go back to it another week when they can look at their painting or model with fresh eyes!

Some of the most successful activities have been a boat mosaic picture, a beach hut model (made with lolly sticks), a jungle collage, clay modelling and copying a famous portrait. I have found that the crafts where the children start with a kit are less successful as there is not such scope for their imaginations.

If you are interested in finding out more about my craft club and feel that your child would enjoy the club and benefit from coming, I would be happy to hear from you!

I stopped my craft club at the end of June as my family were preparing for my brother's marriage blessing. He got married in China in 2006 and in August we had a service and party. For the party, we decided to make our own bunting out of all our saved material. We also planned peg doll scarecrows to go into the flower arrangements. Lots of friends and relatives helped us and in the end, we had multi-ethnic people instead of scarecrows! Each one took on a life of it's own and we had a collection with not one the same!

I also attend the Hans Feibusch club at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester . This is a weekly workshop on Thursday afternoons for adults with additional needs. The workshops are run on a three weekly programme, with different teachers and a wide variety of craft and art ideas from painting and drawing to model making. I have really enjoyed what I have done at the gallery so far and am looking forward to learning new craft techniques and gaining some more ideas over the next few months. To find out more about the Hans Feibusch club, contact Marc Steene - Head of Learning on 01243 774557 or email: m.steene@pallant.org.uk .

Lizzie Baily lizzie@wellspringwestsussex.org.uk