Stars and Stripes: Paint night-themed activity gives campers chance to grow artistically

Create Your Escape owner Haley Faulkner, of Harpers Ferry, explains how to paint fireworks to grade 3-5 students at Shepherdstown Day Care on Tuesday. Tabitha Johnston
SHEPHERDSTOWN — “Half of our children are poverty level, so most of these kids would not be able to experience this kind of event, because their families are focused on just keeping food on the table and electricity going,” said Shepherdstown Day Care (SDC) Director Melissa Holman on Monday afternoon.
Holman spent the day helping run a new paint night-themed event for the SDC summer campers, led by Create Your Escape owner Haley Faulkner, of Harpers Ferry. During the morning, kindergarten through outgoing second graders followed Faulkner’s directions to paint an American flag and fireworks show on canvas. That afternoon, outgoing third-through-fifth graders took their turn under Faulkner’s guidance, painting a nighttime fireworks display on canvas.
“I thought it would be a great idea, to have a paint night kind of experience like adults often enjoy, but for kids!” Holman said. “We tried to gear the painting designs toward each group’s developmental stages.”
“We like to take field trips during our summer camp, but because of COVID, the children have fallen behind in their developmental milestones, so Jefferson County Schools is holding summer camps and providing transportation for those children to attend summer school, basically,” Holman said. “We usually rent their buses for our field trips. Because they’re busy providing transportation for the county this summer, we are limited on the field trips that we can take. So we’re trying to think of innovative, creative ways of bringing experiences to our campers, instead of taking them to those experiences. We had a pirate visit us last week, which was a lot of fun!”
Thankfully, there will be 15 days scattered throughout the summer, during which SDC will be able to rent the public school system’s buses for field trips, according to Holman.

Third graders Alonna Siler and Samaya Stewart paint fireworks on their canvases in Shepherdstown Day Care on Tuesday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston
“Cost is always an issue for us, because we’re a nonprofit. Haley was very generous, making it easy to afford this. We were given some money from the Caring Cupboards organization in Shepherdstown — their stipulation was that it had to be used to benefit the children. This is definitely benefiting the children!” Holman said. “Art provides so many benefits. It’s not about what the final product looks like — it’s about the process of getting there. That’s why these kind of events are important, so they can learn to express their uniqueness and creativity.”
The patriotic and firework theme in the two paint night designs was inspired by the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, Holman said. Within that theme, Faulkner sent Holman a variety of paintings she found online, fitting that theme, allowing the SDC student and staff members to vote on which elements Faulkner should include in her designs.
“My heart is really with the children. I really want to get kids into art as early as possible — it does so much for their confidence, for their motor skills, for their imagination, for their since of self — so many wonderful benefits!” Faulkner said, noting she launched her business last October.
According to Holman, Faulkner was selected to lead this event, from responses to a request for a painting teacher that was published on Facebook.
“She’s fabulous! She understands children and her patience is amazing,” Holman said. “She really understands little people, which makes working with her the perfect relationship!”
- Paintings from the K5-2nd grade camp dry on a table in the Shepherdstown Day Care on Tuesday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston
- Create Your Escape owner Haley Faulkner, of Harpers Ferry, explains how to paint fireworks to grade 3-5 students at Shepherdstown Day Care on Tuesday. Tabitha Johnston
- Third graders Alonna Siler and Samaya Stewart paint fireworks on their canvases in Shepherdstown Day Care on Tuesday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston
- Incoming sixth grader Jed Hoover prepares to paint a deer, as the finishing touch to his work of art, in the Shepherdstown Day Care camp on Tuesday. Tabitha Johnston

Incoming sixth grader Jed Hoover prepares to paint a deer, as the finishing touch to his work of art, in the Shepherdstown Day Care camp on Tuesday. Tabitha Johnston

Paintings from the K5-2nd grade camp dry on a table in the Shepherdstown Day Care on Tuesday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston