childrens workshops

so Ive been asked to do a series of workshops for kids at a community centre, teach em some basic designs so they can paint each other. They are offering $50 per hour which seems ok as im quite a new painter but they said something about bringing my paints, my feeling would be that they would need to supply the paints. I have asked my contact to go back to them and clarify but I certainly dont want a bunch of kids grotting all over my kit. What do you all think? maybe I could tell them what to get and where to get it and then they could keep it at their centre for future use.

How old would the kids be?

That's my question too! And also how big the group will be.
Did it for my daughter and her friends (6 girls of 14 year) and it went just great!
When you don't want to use your on kit, the price per hour will be less in my opinion.

it is an after school thing so age 5 to 12. No idea how many but assuming a lot as there are at least 60 kids involved with the center. That is a lot of wear and tear on my paints and brushes.

Hmmm....that age group would be rough on your paints. If it were me I think I'd only do it if they got their own supplies, but yeah, as l!zzie pointed out, you can't charge your full all-inclusive rate in that case.

In an hour workshop if 20-30 kids paint a face each with my paints that is how much paint I would use in 2 to 3 hours. something to think about. Perhaps I can get a really basic kit to use for the sessions and offer it to them to buy discounted at the end. maybe the kids have to use brushes from the $2 store. no fancy stuff like splits rainbows glitter gel as I just cant supervise that many kids closely enough to make sure stuff doesnt get destroyed.

Another option would be to see if they would give you some money to cover the cost of supplies. Then you can replace your own if need be or purchase a few more for the class. If it were me I think it would be nice to have one split cake or rainbow cake because there is so much you can do with them.

From experience... as I have taught that exact age group ... you do not want them anywhere near YOUR kit!!

What most of us who teach do is have palettes that we let students use, and/or, provide supplies/kits as part of the fee for the workshop.

I never let students, even adults, touch my actual kit. That's what I earn my living with.

For something like you describe where you don't know the actual numbers, I would put together a few palettes with just the basic colours - black, white, red, orange, brown, blue, yellow, green, purple... and let them share in groups. Cut the cakes to split amongst trays or containers.

Brushes - they need something reasonably decent to paint with, if you can get some of the gold handled Snaz rounds I find they are a good all round brush for beginners to use. You'll need one per student... and they can rinse them out to use other colours.

I use foam disposable plates as palettes, paper cups for water...

I would give them a supply list of what they need. Tell them for insurance purposes no one touches your kit but you. I lost $300 worth of face paint when I 1st started out, to a volunteer event that used my kit. An untrained person can ruin a brush in seconds & most kids are not taught how to properly care for brushes. They will pick them up & use them like a crayon. Now no one touches my kit but me & my daughter.

Let the contact person know the value of your supplies.

I would get one or two of the 8 colour Snazaroo palettes for them to use (2 painters per palette at a time) and some usable but cheap brushes and sponges. You could ask them to cover this cost on top of your hourly or you could eat it up yourself as it probably wouldn't be THAT much in the grand scheme of things, but up to you. I was offering a clown boot camp for March Break, but didn't end up having anyone enroll this time around (I'll try offering it again another time)... I've tried having my 7 yr old paint me and as fantastic an artist as she is, the motor skills needed for face painting, just aren't there yet. I was limiting my students to 10 - 14 yrs or they aren't really ready for it yet. That being said, while the little ones' work will look awful, they'll have fun as long as they don't poke eachother's eyes out.

I have a friend who has a 10 year old daughter and I offered to let her try painting once...she made divots in paint, added WAY too much water and frayed a few of my brushes....I ended up giving her a few of my older brushes and a Snaz kit from Michael's and a tulip white and black and referred her to YouTube to watch Lisa Joy Young....she has practiced a lot, and turned 11 now...she's not too bad . Point is though...I learned a lesson to keep my kit to myself.