art club – After School Club Ideas

Tag: art club

Deep Space Sparkle: Great Resource for Art and Book Club Ideas

Posted on July 13, 2010July 15, 2010 by Marie

I have loved art and reading from a very young age thanks very much in part to the adult role models I had in my life. They constantly exposed me to the Arts, Music, and Literature. As an adult I have been always advocated that children to be exposed to Literature and the Arts as much as possible so that they too can develop a love for them. Many times when I seek to plan an After School Club I like to incorporate Art and Reading into the overall theme.

I have recently stumbled a wonderfully rich blog called, “Deep Space Sparkle…Out of this World Art Lessons” created by Patty. If you are looking for ideas for clubs such as Art from Around the World, Children’s Picture books, Artists, and more you should check it out.

Continue reading “Deep Space Sparkle: Great Resource for Art and Book Club Ideas” →

Fun with Fancy Nancy Club

Posted on March 21, 2010July 22, 2013 by Marie

A colleague of mine recently introduced me to the Fancy Nancy series, by Jane O’Connor. The books are very well written and beautifully illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. The details on each of the pages are brilliant! They really capture the essence of what Fancy Nancy is all about. I also truly appreciate how Jane has incorporated learning and enhancing children’s vocabulary into something that is fun and exciting. Fun with Fancy Nancy Club is a club that can be fun, fulfilling, and educational all at the same time.

Week 1-Make your own Fancy Fabric Hair ribbons

Introduce the group to Fancy Nancy by reading her first book entitled, Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor

Fancy Fabric Hair ribbons

Materials needed:

Fun, yet sturdy fabrics
sparkly pony beads
hair ties
fabric cutter
yard stick

Directions:

1) First have an adult use the fabric cutter and yard stick to cut equal sized strips (~ 1/2 in wide. and 6 in. long)

2) Next, have the children choose fabric strips and tie simple knots to create their hair ties. Every third or fourth tie they can add a bead to make it look more fancy if they so desire. The more strips they choose, the thicker and fuller their hair tie will become.

Week 2- Fancy Decoupage Trinket Boxes

Decoupage is a fancy way of saying the art of decorating with colored paper cut-outs, paint, & glitter. I think children will truly enjoy creating their own decoupage boxes

Expected Project Time: 45 minutes-1 hour

Materials Needed:

Small boxes (1 per child)- small takeout boxes or margarine tubs would work well if you are on a $$, or you can purchases small cardboard boxes at a local craft store.
White (or Clear) school glue & water
Plastic bowls
Paintbrushes
Magazines, Color Catalogs, & Newspapers
Scissors
Glitter Glue
Rhinestones

Directions:

1) Spread out magazines, catalogs, and newspapers. Encourage children to cut out shapes and objects that interest them.

2) Mix 1 part glue to 1 1/2 parts water in each plastic bowl to prepare a glue wash. Have children “paint-on” their cutouts in their desired pattern. TIP: Use only interior pages from the magazines, not covers as they will be too thick and won’t stick/lay flat against to boxes. The thinner the pages, the better ~ the more polished outcome there will be!

3) Allow the boxes to dry for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime you can check out FancyNancyBooks.com for some adorable printables the children can use while they are waiting. Use rhinestones & glitter glue to give their boxes an extra special fancy touch – Voila! Fancy Decoupage trinket boxes to hold all of their fancy objects! TIP: If boxes are still too wet after 10-15 minutes, skip this step and save it for the following day/week when the group next meets.

Week 3: Fancy Nancy Vocabulary Challenge

You can start this session by reading Fancy Nancy’s Favorite Fancy Words, by Jane O’Connor. Then ,depending on the ages of children in the group you can have 2 different types of challenges or use a combination of both. Have small prizes on hand for everyone who participates in the challenge. Prize Ideas: Boa Pens, Rhinestone Rings, Glittery playdoh.

Ages 9-12: Fancy Word Spelling Bee

Gather a list of fancy words (ex. accesories, boas, parasol, etc.) and challenge children to take turns spelling the words.

Ages 5-9: Fancy Nancy Vocabulary Challenge

Using the list of fancy words you have compiled have the children guess what the definitions of each word are.

Week 4: Special Event: Fancy Nancy Tea Party & Dress Up Day

This week encourage the children to dress up for the tea party and wear pearls, fancy dresses, costume jewelry, tiaras, gloves, boas, etc. One of most festive parts of a tea party is serving dainty and delicate foods, most of them being “mini” versions of their normal selves. You can serve scones and tea sandwiches (sandwiches with filling such as egg salad, chicken salad or cucumber/cream cheese, crusts cut off, cut into 4 triangular shaped pieces), small fruits & veggies and tea of course.

You can also encourage the children to discuss their club experience ~ what did they learn? What was their favorite part of the club?

For more about information about Fancy Nancy, visit FancyNancybooks.com

Looking for more club ideas? Check the club themes page for some more exciting themed-units!

School Club Ideas in current economic climate: Art, Music, and Sports Club Ideas

Posted on March 17, 2010July 1, 2010 by Marie

In the current economic climate many schools are being forced to cut out extracurricular programs from the school day such as art, music and to a lesser extent P.E. or Sports. This is devastating for our children as they are missing out on very valuable educational opportunities and access to gaining lifetime skills and appreciation for the Arts and physical fitness. Now granted, I don’t think we could ever expect to replace School Arts, Music or Physical Education programs in an after school setting. I remember going to visit the symphony with my 4^th grade Music Teacher as one of my all time favorite memories from my elementary school years. I do think, however by offering after school programs, with an emphasis in Art, Music, and Physical Education that we can help to maintain that “spark” in children and open their eyes to what kinds of experiences are available to them!

Here are some ideas below about how to incorporate Art, Music & physical education in the after school setting. If you need more ideas about how to plan your club take a look at my article on planning your first after school club.

Music Club Ideas

1) Hand bell Club- You can purchase a set of hand bells for kids that are color coded for the different notes they play. I found a set at Lakeshore Learning. The set came with color coded cards to play different songs such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” You can start by teaching children about musical notes, note values, and scales and move on teaching how to play songs with the hand bells. As a special event at the end of the club event parents and friends to a Hand bell recital.

2) Karaoke Club- If you have a karaoke machine, or even just a boom box and microphone you can host a karaoke club. The children can practice, and you can hold a concert for them at the end of the club session.

3) Music Appreciation Club-Teach children to appreciate music. This can be accomplished in many ways. You can teach the kids to identify some classical music and then play a game of “Name that Tune.” They can listen to various styles of music and paint or draw about how it makes them feel. You can teach them about rhythm and have them clap or dance to different beats. Also, if you have access to a musical instrument set you can teach them to identify various instruments by sight and sound, and have children take turns playing the instruments.

Art Club Ideas

Teach children about various artists biographies and allow them to create art based on their styles. Make sure to allow for some time for children to create artwork base on their own artistic styles. At the end of the club hold an art gallery to showcase the children’s artwork.

Examples of artists you can showcase:

Charles Schulz- kids can create their own comic strips inspired by “Peanuts”
Georgia O’Keefe- flower paintings
George Seurat-Kids can create pictures using pointillism or images that look completely whole but looking more closely are created with series of dots instead of connected lines.

Sports Club Ideas

Some Sports Club would benefit from having a great Coach. Talk with your parents/staff to see if anyone may be interested in coaching a sports club once a week or even once a month. If they are not available for a long term commitment perhaps you can have them come for the last (special event) session to perform a Demo or be a Guest Speaker.

1) Jogging Club- You can teach the importance of stretching and warming up. As a special event you can hold a jog-a-thon, and let the children help choose a great cause to earn funds for.

2) Basketball Club

3) Football Club

4) “Yoga for Kids” Club- Many DVD’s or cards are available that teach fun yoga moves to kids

5) Dance Club