With the kids home more often, finding things to keep them busy can be a challenge. Arts and crafts are always a perfect time killer, but you might not want to contend with the mess once they’re done.
To help keep the kids occupied so you can get some work done, there are some crafty pastimes that don’t require a major clean-up job. Here are some craft organization tips for mess-free arts and crafts projects to do with your kids.
Think Mess-Free Materials
First, regardless of the project, you need to think of materials that will lead to less mess. For example, bags of glitter or jars of paint equal mess, while things like crayons, coloured pencils, and markers are spill and sprinkle free.
Kids can use all the colours they need and you don’t have to worry about anything getting knocked over onto the floor or table. Other things that tend to be less messy are stickers or working with fabrics and materials like ribbons and wool.
Older kids can use needles and thread, while younger ones can use glue. Cutting and pasting can be less messy with spill-proof bottles and glue sticks as opposed to using pastes that require brushes. If your kids need to have shiny things, choose papers with shimmer, or in the worst-case scenario, sparkly glues.
Fun things like googly eyes with sticky backs or small paper and decorative foam items can be found at the dollar or craft store. Now let’s take a look at some projects.
Acorn Faces
If the weather allows, head outside and take a walk to look for acorns. These friendly little nuts come with their own little hat, making them perfect for the heads of little dolls. Use markers to draw on faces and if you can find smaller googly eyes, kids can stick them on.
Get Beading
Older kids who aren’t at risk of swallowing beads can create fun jewellery using beads and string. There’s no end to what they can create, and you can even find jewellery kits. They are perfect to make for kids, swap with friends or to create their own little collection of necklaces and bracelets. The selection of beads available today is endless and kids will have hours of fun creating completely mess-free jewellery.
Eco-Friendly Tote Bags
Inspire their eco-friendly side by making eco-friendly tote bags. You just need pieces of fabric and needles and thread to create colourful tote bags you can then use for your grocery shopping. You can also use coloured fabrics and fabric pens to create original artwork on the bags or you can print off stencils you find online, which your kids can trace.
Wool or Macrame Bracelets
Threads and yarn can be used to create macrame bracelets using braiding techniques found online. This is a relaxing pastime and is a great way to use up old balls of leftover yarn.
Colouring Books
Nothing is easier than good old-fashioned colouring books. Head out to the dollar store and buy up a collection so kids can colour as they like using their choice of crayons, markers or coloured pencils.
Paper Plate Masks
Use white paper plates to create fun masks with markers, crayons or coloured pencils. You just need to cut the eye holes and use a needle and string for the ties to hold the masks on. Kids can be completely creative drawing animal faces, clowns, scary creatures or just colourful and free-for-all drawings like mardi gras masks.
Customized Marker T-Shirts
Fabric markers are ideal to create customized t-shirts. Kids can create whatever they like, add funny sayings or just go wild. To make it easier, stretch the t-shirts over sturdy cardboard to pull the fabric taut.
Marker Tie Dye
Take your customized t-shirts one step further using markers and rubbing alcohol. Have kids colour their designs in lines, dots, or shapes and then squirt rubbing alcohol onto the drawing. The alcohol will cause the colours to run creating a 60s friendly look like tie-dye without the need for messy soaking and dyes.
Nature Collage
This is a great way to combine outdoor activities with art. Head outside to collect things like dried flowers, leaves and seed pods and bring them home to create lovely nature collages. You’ll need wax paper for the next step and an adult to supervise.
Have the kids arrange their collected items on a square of wax paper, wax side up and then cover it with a second square of wax paper of the same size, wax side down. Iron the wax paper on low to melt the wax and seal the items inside. You’ll create a lovely collage that can be framed or hung on the window so the light can shine through.
Macaroni Necklaces
This traditional arts and crafts project is simple and lots of fun. You just need string and an assortment of tube pasta to create lovely necklaces. Cut the string to a suitable size that will fit over your child’s head easily, then have them string their pasta. Use tri-colour pasta to create more intricate designs. The first piece of pasta needs to be tied onto the string to hold the rest in place.
Mess-Free Goo Bags
Kids love goo, but parents hate the mess. You can make goo bags that can be used to create fun “finger painting” without a single finger needing cleaning. To create the bags:
Place the following ingredients in a large pot:
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 4 cups cold water
Heat over medium heat and then let cool slightly. Place the goo in large, zippered freezer bags. Add your choice of food colouring and then seal the bag making sure to let the air escape. Finish it off with clear packing tape to doubly secure the zippered top. Place the bags on the table and let kids use their fingers to manipulate the goo. They can swirl it just like finger paint but without making a mess and they’ll have hours of fun creating new images and then wiping them away.
It just takes a little craft organization for mess-free ideas that offer hours of creative fun without hours of clean-up.
For help tidying up, call Maid4Condos at (647) 822-0601 or contact us here.
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