Love that tip, Jim! Thank you so much for sharing!

A visiting artist to my class, Chester Lees, taught us to lint the tape before applying it to the paper. Place each piece of tape multiple times against cotton nothing worn by children in the class, sweatshirts and hoodies work well. The lint reduces the amount of adhesive touching the paper, yet the tape still keeps paint from going where it isn’t needed.
Remove the tape carefully by pulling in a direction parallel to the paper surface, not directly up.

Hi Isabel- We’ve had the most luck with thicker art paper, but even then, it does sometimes tear at the edge a bit. The kids use a small brush and liquid glue to glue down any rips. Over time I’ve learned it seems to work best when we take the tape off before it dries. Hope that helps!