Face Painting Tips for Volunteers
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Face Painting Tips for Volunteers.doc
Face painting is one of the most popular project activities for volunteers and children.
Here are a few tips to help you organise and run a successful face painting session:
Preparation is key before attending any project so it is wise to ascertain how many volunteers will be attending the session, decide who will do what and who is in each group. Check the face paint kits are complete and have plenty of design material (try out any tricky ones beforehand on each other!)
Take plenty of wet wipes and tissues to use during and after the session.
Most children (and quite a lot of teenagers) like having their face, arms or hands painted with designs and patterns. With large numbers this can result in confusion and arguments as they all jostle for position.
In this situation set yourselves up in small groups of three or four volunteers spaced around the room.
Ensure each group has enough paints and materials at all times.
Have two volunteers in each group sitting and doing the actual painting and another volunteer keeping the children in some sort of order!
You may be face painting continuously for up to 90 minutes so ensure you are in a comfortable position before starting.
Have a good supply of ideas and designs to show the children whilst they wait for their turn in the queue.
Remember to take a mirror so the children can see what their face looks like afterwards!
Allocate other volunteers to supply and maintain a constant supply of clean water to use to keep brushes, sponges, paints, hands etc clean.
Use sponges to apply a thin foundation layer of paint on the face and allow it to dry before starting the main design.
Be careful to leave the immediate area around the eyes clear and have clean face wipes ready to use if you accidentally paint too close to an eye.
Only use paints which are specifically designed for face painting and bear the safety kite marks.
It is probably wise to purchase the materials before leaving the UK as it will be cheaper and much easier than trying to buy them in Morocco.
See https://painting.about.com/od/faceandbodypainting/a/FacePaintCindy.htm for more in-depth advice on using face paints safely.
After the project is complete check the brushes, paints and designs and throw away any that cannot be used again.
Recycle the remaining materials to form new face painting kits.
Use plastic containers/freezer bags to store the kits ready for reuse.
The most common face painting kit used by volunteers is manufactured by Snazaroo. https://www.snazaroo.com
These paints are guaranteed to be gluten and nut free, are safe to use whilst pregnant, have not been tested on animals and the only animal product included is lanolin.
Paints should be used within 18 months of being opened.
In the unlikely event of being asked to put face paint on a baby, restrict the design to a small motif, preferably on an arm or leg.
Often children also want to face paint the volunteers.
If the volunteer is happy then there is no objection however, be wary of allowing any written words or motifs to be drawn that you cannot understand or translate. They may seem innocent but could cause offence outside the confines of the project area.
If you are a beginner at face painting the following link may prove helpful in choosing designs and patterns.
https://www.buzzle.com/articles/face-painting-stencils-for-kids.html.
You can often link the face painting to other project ideas.
For example face painting using farm animals as a theme can then lead onto further painting, drawing and modelling of farm animals.
From this you can do a simple English vocabulary lesson using the Farm Animal Lesson Pack.
Singing and miming actions to the song “Old Macdonald had a Farm” will further reinforce the vocabulary learning process.
https://www.learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/songs/old-macdonald-had-farm
Usually, volunteers want to take photos of the activity and the faces they have painted. Normally there is no problem although it might be wise to check with the local co-ordinator as a matter of courtesy.
Face painting can become messy and accidents can and do happen so to avoid unnecessary damage ensure your bags are safely stored out of the way.
It is advisable to wear clothes that you can easily wash or discard afterwards.
Below is a list of websites that may provide further information:
