This summer I have the distinct advantage at my art camp that a school teacher does not have: A captive audience of 22 children and 6 hours of nothing but art activities. Kids come clothed for art-making, wearing smocks and old clothes. There are no worries about sending them home messy. This gives me the freedom to let my students work independently, and at their own pace. I have open ended work sessions where students can work on each of the activities at their own pace with occasional assistance from me or one of my amazing 13-15 year old assistant counselors. (I have an average of 3 or 4)
The thing about letting young 5-12 year old children work on their own is that sometimes things get paint crazy! Sometimes I look away and two seconds later there is a shiny puddle of paint where there wasn’t one before. Fortunately with my smock, and their smocks combined, everything usually works out alright.
Emma Teaches Art! 
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