Ok, we know the weather is warming up and we may be starting to be indoors at little more than usual.
This is always a bit of an adjustment at first after all the lovely outdoorsy weather! We also know that many of you prefer to have the “messy stuff” happen at nursery. We’ve got you covered with these 5 low mess creative activities you can do very easily at home, when singing action songs have run their course!
Obviously. we would love it if our little ones could be left to be totally free with their imagination and creative ‘mess’, without an adult hovering with wet wipes, but we understand this can be more stressful than fun for parents sometimes. The following activities have been taken from the artfulparent.com.
Join in with your child if you have time and we promise there won’t be much mopping or cleaning up to be done unless you want to unleash your inner Jackson Pollack!
Have fun and we dare you to get a little messy 🙂
1. Water play
What child doesn’t love water play? This is one of my favourite creative activities for children, because it’s so simple to set up and clean up is easy breezy.
I present water play in many different ways, but I have just one WARNING: always place a couple of towels or absorbent drop cloths underneath your station to prevent water from going everywhere.
I suggest using a big plastic box for the water (no need to add a lot of water, about an inch is more than enough). Then bring in some plastic food, little bowls, plastic animals, dolls, brushes, etc. Then add a few drops of shampoo to make some foam and let them wash, wash, wash.
A good tip is placing a couple of extra plastic boxes you may have around the house next to the larger one, so spills are always contained. Then kids can work on transferring the water from one box to the other, which is always engaging for younger children.
2. Incredible Foam
This is a weird yet fun supply you can get on Amazon. We love it. It’s a perfect mix between, slime, clay and styrofoam but very low mess.
Remember, the plastic box is your best friend. Always use it; it’s so great to contain everything. And keep reinforcing with children that it all must stay INSIDE the box. They will get it. Eventually.
Place the foam inside a box next to some cars, trucks and craft sticks or any other similar toy you may have on hand.
Let children explore this great sensory material. It’s sticky, yet it won’t stick to surfaces or clothing permanently, and it’s very easy to clean because it all just comes together super fast. Plus, it never dries out, so you can use it over and over again and in endless ways.
3. Playdough
Always a favourite. Always a crowd pleaser, at all ages. This is a top one on my list, because I use it constantly and in so many different manners. It’s a really wonderful supply that won’t stain or stick, and is so versatile and open-ended.
Set it out with some uncooked pasta or with some animals and loose parts. Then watch the magic of child-led play happen. They will build with it, they will cook, they will dress their animals, they will use it to glue parts together; the list goes on.
Most importantly, they will be engaged for a decent amount of time, and you will be able to enjoy a cup of coffee or do that laundry you’ve had on hold for days!
This is a very low-mess activity and very simple to set up. And did I mention, so much fun?
4. Sticky Wall
Buy a roll of contact paper and tape it to the wall sticky side up. After you tape it, remove the protective paper and bring in some felt pieces, tissue paper, feathers, foam shapes, or just about anything you may have around that can stick to the paper.
Let the kids get busy arranging the shapes on the sticky paper, then removing them, then adding them again and so on. This is so great for those hand-eye coordination skills!
5. Tempura Sticks
Paint sticks are the best! If you haven’t been introduced to these yet you are going to love them.
They are as wonderful and vibrant as tempera paint, but they act kind of like a marker (but much better); plus they dry super fast!
Set these out with a large cardboard piece on the floor. Or sometimes I like to tape paper to the wall and invite the children to use them this way.
Not much setup or cleanup needed for this one. Easy and fun!
