View Full Version : Junior School ATC club!
I work part time in the village primary school, mainly keeping their computer network going etc but I do get involved with art in the classrooms sometimes.
I was asked for ideas for an art club after school hours and suggested ATCs. I thought it would get boys more involved as usually it is just girls who turn up.
I put a notice out for the weekly club and our first night is tomorrow for an hour straight after school. 14 boys and 6 girls have signed up for it! I asked for years 3-6, most are year 4 and 5.
I am going to use paints, patterned papers and pictures cut from their comics and some old pokemon cards. My 15 year old son is helping as part of his Duke of Edinburgh silver award and of course Georgina wants to have a go.
They are all looking forward to trading them in the playground! Wouldn't it be great if that got more pupils interested?
KatieL
19-01-2006, 12:22 AM
OH that is such a fun idea Jane! I have been asked to come with something for a similar age group... girls mainly I think. Are you doing it as a one off or will it be an on- going class??
Let us know how it goes!!
cathk
19-01-2006, 01:10 AM
Sounds like a fab idea! I'm going to suggest it to my sis who's a deputy as they were thinking of ideas for their talented artists...
I am running it all term, they are all very excited, I cant wait to see them swapping in the yard at playtime
fifecat
19-01-2006, 01:55 PM
Well done for a brilliant idea!
weezie
19-01-2006, 02:06 PM
Sounds brilliant. I ran the craft club at the school I teach at for a while and they would have loved your idea.
Michelles
19-01-2006, 02:18 PM
sounds great Jane , i am sure the kids will love the club
Inky Angel
19-01-2006, 02:19 PM
Sounds like a fab idea Jane. Hope it all goes well for you.
Wish they did something like that at my DD's school - tend to only do sport :blink:
Cara - maybe they need a mum to volunteer to run it?
Inky Angel
19-01-2006, 02:28 PM
Unfortunately I work full-time so I can't be involved. The PTA are also pretty 'cliquey' (sp?) and if it's not their idea then it's no good.
Oh I stay away from our PTA! The clubs are run by the school and usually by the teachers, I am lucky in that I work part time at the school and have 3 more part time 'jobs' so I can jiggle by hours to suit myself
I couldnt go back to working full time in one place.
Well I have just come home from the club, they all loved it and made some fantastic cards. It was very hectic, i had originally said 10 children, then we went up to 15 and when I went to collect them all from the reception area there were 22!
They used gesso, gel medium, acrylics and pictures cut from comics. We had sets of Tracy Beaker, Bratz, Hulk, Football, Dennis the Menace and fairies, some animal ones and some children drew and painted on theirs. I took some protectors for them and they are going to bring them back into school tomorrow to swap with each other.
There was no misbehaviour, no tears and they were all smiling and happy, I feel great!
Cleaning up afterwards took over half an hour but it was worth it. Next time i'll put newspaper down first (duh) and make sure they have aprons with them. We'll also add half an hour to their time so that they aren't as rushed.
I took my camera but was too busy but I'll try and get some photos next week.
KatieL
19-01-2006, 07:34 PM
So how many did they make? Did they make mulitples of one card or did they just do what they wanted???
Well done, Jane, sounds as if both you and them had fun!! :P Make sure you get some piccies for us next week!!
stickysquirrel
19-01-2006, 08:56 PM
I too am going to show the children in my after school craft club ATC's with a view to having a swop. A the moment they are 'altering' notebooks, some of them have turned out really well. We are going to start off by having a valentine theme, but everyone will have a card made for them based on the love of friends theme rather than love and slushy stuff as they call it!! Cards will be put into an envelope after completion and numbered, then they will draw out a number and pick up the corresponding envelope, everyone should then receive an anonyymous friendship card. :)
spangle
20-01-2006, 11:23 AM
Great news that the club is a success . Hope the kids love to trade as much as we do .
bagofscraps
25-01-2006, 09:37 PM
What a wonderful idea! It's always difficult to get boys into anything like this, so I'm glad it's been a success!
They have been seen swapping in the playground and told the teacher they were looking forward to this week. They made a set of 3 last week, this week we will make 3 more and I bought some storage sheets for them with a buff folder each to decorate.
As a surprise I am making them all a card each, I was going to do them by hand but I think they will be digital and printed out!
Sky-blue-pink
01-02-2006, 10:28 PM
This is a brilliant idea - I'm already running an art club at my school and it is a bit tricky to keep both boys and girls happy - Today we were making paper boxes. I'd love to do some ATC's with them - Did you fund the materials yourself (I've had to do bit of that to get more interesting materials) or does the school help out???
Marie
Sky-blue-pink
01-02-2006, 10:41 PM
Sorry folks - got distracted and pressed the button twice - at least you don't have to read exactly the same thing twice now!!!
Marie
I took some old pokemon cards, acrylic paints, gesso, gel medium and they bought in comics to cut up. The school bought me some more gel medium and some spreaders. I also bought some cheap card protctors (about 1p each)
This week we are going to use A4 card (I bought a ream at asda) and will colour it with a marbling technique then leave them to dry to cut up next week fo backgrounds (they wont dry in time to use them in the same session) When we have finished marbling we'll make some cards using charcoal to draw with.
School gave me some A4 file folders and I bought some 9 pocket sheets, I gave them one each and they will get another if they decorate their folders and bring them back this week.
I found some fabric pieces and some oil pastels in the school art cupboard so will use those for a couple of sessions.
It's cost me probably about £20 but I enjoy it, I don't get involved with PTA so it's a way of giving something back to the school on my terms.
I also make 20 identical atc's and they get one each every week they come to the club.
Sky-blue-pink
01-02-2006, 11:10 PM
Thanks for that - One thing we've done before is use some self adhesive funky foam shapes to make a stamp on some thick cardboard. They made some lovely pattern repeats with some metallic paint I found at the back of the cupboard!
It would make some excellent background paper too!! I think I'm going to be busy planning at half term!!
Marie
stickysquirrel
06-03-2006, 12:49 PM
During a recent craft club session we made some ATC cards which the children absolutely loved creating, but are now reluctant to trade with them!!!! We are going to make some more very soon and I was wondering if there is a school out there who would like to trade with us? We are located in Wales. I have about 16 children in my club. Am I right in thinking that normal playing are okay to use as ATC's? I'm a bit confused as in some threads it's a yes, and in some threads poker cards are okay.
Poker cards are bigger than normal playing cards. I just cut white cardstock into pieces for them to use.
I am sure our school would love to trade with your school, not sure how we could work it but we'll think of something. Maybe just sending a fixed amount of cards and getting a lucky dip?
I'll speak to them at the club on Thursday about it
Sky-blue-pink
06-03-2006, 07:04 PM
My art club are really enjoying it too - I mentioned that it might be fun eventually to see if we could swap with another school - knowing that Jane was doing this already. (running a club,that is!)
Perhaps it could (somehow) work three ways or more - I'll give the logistics some thought too.
We did some image transfer using clear packing tape last week which they really enjoyed. It would be great if we could share any ideas on making backgrounds or ideas for sources of bargain embelishments!! Schools budgets being what they are!!
We are making cards ready to trade with another school on Thursday evening. They will be on a Scooby Doo theme and each child will be making 3 cards to send. I have to say that they are allowed to do what they want, I do try to guide them and will try to help them make them as neat as possible. Most of the children are year 4 so they are not going to be fantastic!
I'll post here on Friday with the number of cards I have for the swap if either of the other schools are interedted?
Sky-blue-pink
22-03-2006, 10:56 PM
I have a folder with several ATC's that my art club have made - let me know when you're ready and perhaps we can organise something - mine are years 5/6 but a real range of ability... I give them some imput/ materials for different backgrounds but after that they use some bits and pieces that I've brought in as well as stuff they've found for themselves.
They were pretty excited at the thought of a swap!!
This is a great idea. I'm about to start an after school card making club at school, but I may throw this idea in as well. I will be interested to hear how your clubs are getting on.
stickysquirrel
29-03-2006, 05:49 PM
Would love to trade with another school. My crafty bugs are very keen too. Would the children trade just one of their cards or would they have to make a set of them? I like the idea of single cards and then getting a lucky dip. the trouble is the children make their cards and then they don't want to give them away!!
We made a set of 6, 3 they keep and 3 they swap. They are in my car and I haven't counted them yet though!
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