you have just had a major publicity drive to encourage more children to attend your club and you are getting regular visitors. However, as you show them around you can't help noticing that things are well-worn and homely, rather than exciting and innovative. Seeing the venue through their eyes, you suddenly notice the fading yellow paint on the walls and some battered equipment or furniture.
Even worse, your children are making excuses as they show their guests around. 'It looks minging but we do really cool stuff,' remarks nine-year-old Ben.
It is time for action, but your funds are limited. So how can you create a vibrant, child-friendly environment that will inspire your children and playworkers, and encourage newcomers to attend?
Playworkers know that the best ideas come from children, so why not start with some of their ideas? Have a week where children are encouraged to draw or paint their ideal venue, based on the layout and shape of the current one. They could do this individually, or you could use masking tape and stick together large sheets of A3 or lining paper to do a huge plan together.
Just rearranging the furniture can sometimes inject new life and bring a sense of novelty into a club.
'What a difference, it looks so much bigger,' said Mrs Harper when she collected Colin. Yet all we had done was moved the toy cupboards and rearranged the tables.
DASH OF COLOUR
It is widely accepted that colour affects our mood, so ask how different colours make children feel. These are some of our answers:
* Red - hot, cross, cheerful, funny, hungry, loud
* Blue - serious, clever, friendly, happy, like doing homework!
* Mauve and lilac - flowery, nice, hopeful, artistic, depressed, sweet
* Pink - girly, pretty, cuddly, liking kittens, playing with Barbie, sad, glad
* Yellow and orange - healthy, fit, fast at running, cheerful, summery, hyper
* Green - calmed down, kind and generous, missing my Mum, minty.
A vibrant environment which stimulates activity can be created from primary colours, but pastels or shades of blue or green warmed up with dashes of pink, orange or lilac are better for the quiet area.
You may be allowed to paint a mural on one wall. If so, ask children to decide on a theme. Get the most artistic child or a playworker to draw the outline and then recruit other children to help with the painting.
If you cannot paint on to the wall, you could cover it with A3 posters to build a huge picture. Or, lay blank sheets of paper on the floor, draw a complete design and then give separate sheets to children to colour in. Lay them on the floor side by side and top to bottom and draw the complete design. The completed paper mural will be a work of art that demonstrates teamwork and individual creativity.
A LITTLE HELP
You might find some willing help from youth groups, students studying art, design, decorating or carpentry, retired decorators, carpenters or people with sewing, knitting and crafts skills. Put up notices in your neighbourhood to ask for volunteers. Also ask the children in your club if they have skilled parents, grandparents or older siblings who might lend a hand. People love to help, especially if it is for children, and you will build good relationships in the community for the cost of a few cups of tea and some biscuits. A handmade thank-you card from the children will also go down well once the work is complete.
PAINTS AND PARAPHERNALIA
Emulsion paint can often be obtained from scrap stores, or your local DIY store might be willing to donate to a good cause. Parents may have old leftover paints, and it is possible to mix colours if you use the same type of paint, for example matt emulsion mixed with matt emulsion. Sample pots are ideal for stamps and stencils, or even free painting simple designs, such as flowers, straight on to the wall.
Scrap stores also usually have felt and fabrics. Parents and relatives may have old curtains, throws and cushions that will end up in charity shops if you don't ask for them!
WHAT NEXT?
So the walls have been brightened with a coat of paint and there is a stunning mural on one wall. Now what?
Does the layout suit everybody? Is the crafts area in the best place, or could it be moved? What state is the playhouse in?
'This is not a playhouse. It looks more like a vandalised bus shelter,'
said ten-year-old Gemma during a recent refurbishment project. However, she and some friends redid it by papering the inside with sheets from wallpaper books and the outside with plain paper and painting it with bricks, flowers growing up the wall and window boxes.
A variety of play buildings can be created from a few old sheets pinned to background walls and between posts or to the ceiling. Painting sheets to represent shops, castles, post office counters, train stations or even Narnia complete with the entrance through the wardrobe, is great fun and can be an ongoing project for everyone.
Windows look dreary in winter. What about glass painting designs straight on to some of the windows? Or, how about painting blank blinds with cheerful designs using fabric paints? Another idea is to ask children and playworkers to do self-portraits. Colour-copy these or ask everyone to do two, and then stick them back to back on the window so that cheerful faces are looking out to the world and in to the club!
HIRED VENUES
Clubs that take place in hired venues will need to be even more creative in their approach because everything has to be cleared away. Use washing lines pinned along a wall to display children's work, or perhaps a collapsible clothes airer. John suggested stapling work to a sheet tied between two windows, while Asja thought of using masking tape to stick work to a display area on the floor, similar to pavement art.
A quiet area can be created with the use of screens, 'Chill Out Zone'
sheets and inflatable chairs or stackable cushions. A homework table with reference books could be placed in a convenient corner with a 'Homework in progress' sign above it. Children will enjoy making their own homework signs to display while they work. I've seen these range from a brief but ornate 'Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!' to 'Please be quiet and don't interrupt me because I am very busy doing my homework so I get a good career!'
While any club is in the process of refurbishing, the cry 'If only we had...' and 'We need' may frequently be heard. Once one area looks better, other areas can look worse in contrast, and it can be very disheartening if there is no money for extra touches. However, with creative thinking it is possible to provide these at little or no cost: * Rag rugs make good wall hangings and can be made from scratch or bought cheaply at thrift shops.
* Large rectangles of hardboard can be hinged to make a concertina and used as a screen. (If characters are painted on these with circles cut out for their heads, it can double as a wet sponge throwing game for summer.) * The wrong side of wallpaper or lining paper is useful for painting banners for welcoming everybody to club or to parties, fundraising events, discos and celebrations.
* A gallery of the children's artwork will show off their talents and cheer up the room.
* You may have heard of dry stone walls, but how about building a dry junk wall from cereal boxes and masking tape? This won't last forever, but it might make an interesting room divider as well as recycling junk.
PAPER AND JUNK
With all these creative projects on the go, you'll need a good supply of junk, materials and paper. It is a good idea to have junk and paper bins, one for collection and one to ensure paper is taken to be recycled.
Character bins are expensive, so purchase a cheap plastic bin and customise it. Cover the bin and the lid with papier mache and make it into a paper monster or junk guzzler to encourage donations.
