89 Kids on a Rainy Day

I was booked to facilitate and design some activities at a large party at Nielsen Park Kiosk recently, with many families invited. The kids had lunch and then had the option of coming to my 'art studio' which I'd set up in a gorgeous hall or going to the beach for a swim. Problem was, the rain started. So all the kids came in to the studio at once! My well thought out plan went into meltdown and it was all hands on deck for the first 15 minutes of chaos! After that, it settled down and the event went really well. Luckily, there was a microphone, so I was able to be heard above the mayhem, and explain to the kids how the afternoon would pan out! There were 89 kids from ages 4-17. I had 3 activities organised including tie dying singlets - for all of them, painting and decorating a shadow box for the 4-6 yr olds, and making a "family boat" canvas for the 6+ kids. The brief was to create things with an earthy Hamptons Design feel... so I used lots of neutral colours, driftwood, metals, twine, and natural elements including shells, and starfish. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that the kids have a ball - and they did.

This is the Family Boat Canvas - the kids painted a background, and a wooden word, then made a boat using tin, driftwood, wire, metal mesh, and various tools. You can't see so well in the picture, but the family name was embossed onto the tin sail using metal punches. It looked really good I must say!.






















My studio display corner!