Top 4 Myths About Starting a Kids Arts & Crafts Club

• I need heaps of cash to get started
• In order to work creatively with kids I need to have a degree in art or education
• In order to run a club for profit, I need to have years of business experience

We can say with certainty (and from experience) that NONE of the above is true. 

What if we told you you're ALREADY in the perfect position to start your own club?

In this video we'll share with you the 4 most common myths about starting a kids arts & crafts club.

Click 'play' to watch or keep reading below.

After helping women all over the world start and grow their kids arts & crafts clubs, we’ve realised that there are soooo many people out there who are passionate about being creative and working with kids, but they don’t pursue their dream of starting a club because of FEAR…

And this thing called ‘fear’ comes in a number of forms:

• Fear that they don’t have enough money to get started
• Fear that they don’t have the required skills (like business skills or art skills) 
• Fear that they are not creative enough

But here’s the thing: these fears are nothing but MYTHS.

Today we’re going to talk about the 4 most common myths of starting a kids arts & crafts club.

Ready? Let's bust some myths!

 Myth #1: I need heaps of cash before I can start 

Unlike most other businesses, the reality with a kids arts & crafts club is that you really don’t need a lot to get started.

Let’s break it down:

For you to get started with your club, you essentially need 3 things: a venue, supplies and marketing...

Venue

If you have a dining room table at your house, you have a venue! 

There are tons of venue options, and many of them are affordable.

When we first started out we didn’t have a space at home so we rented a room at our local church and paid them a small fee per student. Then we started hosting after-school classes at schools, mostly for free and sometimes for a small fee per student. It was only much later (when we had built up loyal, paying customers) that we moved into a studio space. 

Our CCC Academy members host classes online, in-person from their homes, at their local schools, kid-friendly restaurants, church halls, community centres, art galleries, garden nurseries - you get the point - anything is possible!

These ladies are teaching crafting classes online using Facebook and their smartphones to record!

Anneke (image below) created a home-based crafting studio:

Melissa (image below) hosts her crafting classes in a room at an art gallery:

Somien (image below) partnered with a therapy centre. The centre has an occupational therapist, a kids psychologist and now a crafting club too. What a great combination!

Tip: as long as your venue fee is calculated per child you will only have to pay when you make money, so this is a great way to start out as you don’t need cash upfront.

Remember: you don’t need a Pinterest-perfect studio to get started. Start small - you can always grow into the studio space of your dreams at a later stage when you have established a steady income stream.

No studio? no problem! Click here to learn the 4 Simple Steps to Start a Mobile Arts & Crafts Club.

Supplies

Want to know our secret to running a low cost crafting club?

Here it is: we use A LOT of recycled materials! Upcycling is a crafting club owner's best friend and it's the No.1 Way to Save Money in your Kids Crafting Club.

If you haven't yet, you can grab our free recycled items checklist - our complete list of recycled items that work best for kids crafting projects.

Apart from the things on the list you will only need to buy a few basic arts and crafts supplies. If you are smart with the supplies that you use, they can last a really long time (we've included a list of the must-have basic arts and crafts supplies on this checklist too).

Start small, don’t buy everything upfront, use what you have at home and only buy the supplies you need for your first classes (you can buy more later as your business grows).

Marketing

The most effective way of marketing your kids crafting club is through word of mouth.

Being referred by someone who has attended one of your classes is more valuable than handing out 1000 flyers or paying for a Facebook ad.

We know this may be hard to believe, but it's true. If you have kids, think of the activities they attend. Then think back to where you first heard about these activities... through a friend or the school newsletter? If not, let us know in the comments - we’d love to know!

Use your network when you’re starting out. That’s how most humble businesses start - with family and friends and friends of friends and then friends of friends telling their friends.

Myth #1: I need heaps of cash before I can begin - BUSTED!

 Myth #2: I need formal teacher training to run a kids arts & crafts club 

This is one we hear all the time. Can you relate? 

Here’s the thing: you don't need formal education to run a kids arts & crafts club. 

Christelle and I don’t have degrees in teaching, nor does Lili who teaches at our club and nor do most of our members in our CCC Academy!

You don’t need to spend years working towards a certification or qualification before you can start earning money with a club.

There are so many new opportunities to LEARN nowadays. Think of all the e-books, courses, memberships and other resources that condense massive amounts of course content into months or sometimes even weeks.

The world of online education has opened doors for us all. 

Even though we believe you don’t need formal training in education, we do however feel very strongly about a few things that you DO need:

1. an appreciation for creativity and all things arts & crafts,
2. a passion for working with and nurturing curiosity in kids, and
3. enthusiasm and the ability to communicate well with kids.

If you feel the need to boost your confidence when it comes to working with groups of children, you could volunteer at your kid’s school, a daycare, after-school club or holiday camp.

Or you could start off with a small group of kids in your class and grow the number of kids per class as your confidence grows.

But you really, really, really don’t need a formal qualification in teaching to run your own kids arts & crafts club.

We've seen that proven time and time again by the hundreds of successful kids club business owners in our CCC Academy.

Myth #2: I need formal teacher training to run a kids arts & crafts club - BUSTED!

 Myth #3: I need business experience if I want to make money with my club 

While business experience may be a bonus, we can tell you with certainty that even if you don’t have business experience, it is very possible to make a success of your own kids arts & crafts club.

All you need is two things:

1. A willingness to learn
2. A mentor or someone who has gone before you who you can learn from

Simple as that.

Learning from those who have gone before you can make all the difference. And let's be very clear: we are referring to those who have achieved success doing what you want to do. 

If someone has been successful in doing the exact same thing, follow their advice to the t. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel if you can follow a proven process or roadmap and learn from those who have gone before you.

They've been there, done that. And they can show you step by step how to do the same.

Find yourself a mentor and you will be well on your way to building a successful kids arts & crafts club in NO TIME.

Myth #3: I need business experience if I want to make money with my club - BUSTED!

 Myth #4: I need to be super creative to be able to run a kids arts & crafts club 

To be honest, we used to think this was true too. 

We used to think that parents of students would want their kids to learn from someone with an art degree or something similar.

But if you really start unpacking it, teaching arts and crafts to kids is all about the process. The kids are doing the work and you as the teacher are there to guide and inspire them, to ask questions so that they can solve their own problems and get to a solution.

It’s really about them, not about you.

The most beautiful part of a class happens when the kids get to make the decisions and create something from nothing on their own. 

If you allow them this opportunity, to take control of their own creative process, they BEAM of pride and joy. 

So, no, you don’t have to be super creative to run an arts & crafts class - it’s more about asking questions to guide the kids on their own creative journeys. 

At the end of the day if your students have an awesome time in your classes, they will want to come back for more, week after week. So as long as you can make it a SUPER experience for them, your business will be rocking.

Myth #4:  I need to be super creative to host crafting classes - BUSTED!  

So there you have it! The 4 most common myths about starting a kids arts & crafts club totally BUSTED!

Now, we’d love to hear from you. 

Let us know in the comments if you have any other struggles, doubts or fears about starting your own club because we’d love to help.

Lots of love,
Stefanie
XO 

P.S. WANT TO START AND GROW YOUR VERY OWN KIDS ARTS & CRAFTS CLUB? Join the waiting list to be the first to know when enrolment to the CCC Academy opens.