This summer I taught art summer camp at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem, PA. I taught three weeks of camp in total: two weeks in June and one week in July. The kids were in the 4-9 year old age group and I had about 12 kids in each class.

It was a totally new experience for me! I hadn’t done this sort of teaching before, trying to lead art projects for a group of such young kids. To be honest, it was challenging and exhausting. But at the same time, it was also really fun and rewarding. I especially loved seeing the kids’ proud smiles when they held up their artwork to show me!

*A happy kid proudly holding up her beautiful drawing!*

I kept forgetting to ask the kids to write their names on their paper at the beginning of each project, so I ended up with a lot of art at the end that was unnamed and unclaimed. So, I can’t remember who made every piece, unfortunately.

I did take photos of some of my favorite pieces of art, mostly in the 12 x 16 inches range. Here they are:

*flowers and houses, painted paper collage*

*a beautiful collage of a bee (artist: Josie)*

*a beach scene, water color and oil pastel*

*a figure and some shapes, watercolor and collage*

Another fun thing I did with the kids was let them decoupage a bunch of empty tins I had saved. These tins used to hold tea or mints etc. We used glue and paper and buttons and feathers and various things we found to decorate the tins.

Inside the tins, some kids made little interior rooms for people. We made people out of clothespins and modeling clay, corks, or sometimes just a drawing of a person on paper, and then cut out.

*a little clothespin person in her fancy bedroom inside the tea tin*

*a little boy and his dog in a red room tea tin*

We also made little “worlds” by painting pieces of canvas green, and then making trees and bushes and animals etc. out of whatever we could find.

*a little green meadow with a stream and a circular pond*

Sometimes the kids got restless before the time was up. When things started to get rowdy, we would sit down on carpet squares and I would tell stories. I really like telling stories! I had forgotten how much I liked it, since my own kids are teenagers now, and it’s been such a long time since they have asked me to tell them a story. I know a whole bunch of fairytales, but my favorite type of story is the kind that I make up as I go along, with lots of magic and adventure.

Anyway, as I sit here looking back at my summer, I feel grateful for having had the opportunity to teach summer camp, and to tell some stories. The kids made such beautiful art, and I felt lucky to be part of that.

Generous Permission

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