Crafts for kids who don't like messiness?

watercolor5 · March 2014

Does anyone else have a kid who doesn't like to be messy? I tried to finger paint with DD, and it was an epic failure- she'd say "Wow!" when I squirted the paint out of the tube, but backed off and said "No, no, no!" when I tried to get her to touch it. I ended up finger painting by myself in front of her. She hates getting messy. Same thing happened when she was younger and I gave her shaving cream and food coloring in the tub to play with- she just wanted to clean it up and take a bath.

Are we limited to crayons and pencils and other dry crafts until she gets a bit older? Anyone have advice- I'd love to do more with her, esp since we've been stuck inside so much.

enjoylife · March 2014

I have put some paint in a large ziploc bag (gallon) and either tape it to our Arcadia glass door or to the high chair table and let him paint away without making a mess. Also you can use paint brushes too. My youngest doesn't like finger painting but he does like playing with the brushes though. We also are planning on doing some stamp art once I make some stamps with foam stickers and bottle caps.

hmp1 · March 2014

All of the above. Leo doesn't like getting messy, and I don't like him getting messy. Ziploc painting and painting with something - brushes, cut up sponges, using cookie cutters like stamps. I also have these dot paints that both the boys love.

https://www.amazon.com/Toys-Artist-Studio-Dashes-319/dp/B000099ZDL

I also will do glue art. I cut up pieces of paper, ribbon, put out buttons and poms. I put a dot of glue on a piece of paper and he covers it with one of the above.

MarisaKathleen · March 2014

Have you tried giving her a paintbrush? Nancy won't finger paint but L O V E S taking out all my paint brushes and painting with those.

She also loves markers, but tries to eat crayons, so those are still on the no list.

kelbel527 · March 2014

There are kids who don't like to be messy?

Can one of them come teach cleanliness to my kids?

hmp1 · March 2014

kelbel527 said:

There are kids who don't like to be messy?

Can one of them come teach cleanliness to my kids?

When we play with play duh, if Leo notices some is sticking to his finger, he will hold it up and whine "help".

AKB090609 · March 2014

We do a lot of sticker art and color wonder marker drawings.

MarisaKathleen · March 2014

hmp1 said:

kelbel527 said:

There are kids who don't like to be messy?

Can one of them come teach cleanliness to my kids?

When we play with play duh, if Leo notices some is sticking to his finger, he will hold it up and whine "help".

Nancy too. Kid hates getting dirty.

This morning she strawberry juice on her glove and cried about it until I changed her gloves.

ellebee2 · March 2014

DD loves those sticky foam shapes. I give her a big piece of paper and let her stick them on.

Also, the ziploc bag thing.

watercolor5 · March 2014

hmp1 said:

kelbel527 said:

There are kids who don't like to be messy?

Can one of them come teach cleanliness to my kids?

When we play with play duh, if Leo notices some is sticking to his finger, he will hold it up and whine "help".

DD is so crazy about cleanliness she can't stand it if there's dog kibble on the floor next to the bowl... she'll sit down and pick it up piece by piece and put it back where it belongs.

watercolor5 · March 2014

@hmp1 I have those dot paints on my list to get for her easter basket- I remember using them when I was little.

Stupid question about the ziploc painting- do you just use one color, or how do you avoid all of the colors turning into one gray sludgey color?

ETA: She's good with crayons/markers/stamps/stickers already, but I wanted to mix it up a bit. I'll try the paintbrushes too

hmp1 · March 2014

I have a bunch of canvas painting boards. I will put some drops of different colors on the board then slide it into the bag. He pushes it around with his hands, or uses a monster truck to roll over the board to move the paint around. The colors mix together but not into a glob of grey.

Pokedot · March 2014

Apparently I'm a terrible mother because we've never tried finger painting, brushes, crayons or glue... :-S

Where do I start? I think B would be fine with being messy. It's this mama who wouldn't! How do you keep the paint from going everywhere? Do you put down a sheet on the floor and hope for the best? I'm horrible!

hmp1 · March 2014

Pokedot said:

Apparently I'm a terrible mother because we've never tried finger painting, brushes, crayons or glue... :-S
Where do I start? I think B would be fine with being messy. It's this mama who wouldn't! How do you keep the paint from going everywhere? Do you put down a sheet on the floor and hope for the best? I'm horrible!

Crayola washable paint comes off anything. I use either a plastic table cloth or a trash bag on the table and let them paint, Leo in his booster seat. Leo used to paint in his high chair with the tray on.

Pokedot · March 2014

hmp1 said:

Pokedot said:

Apparently I'm a terrible mother because we've never tried finger painting, brushes, crayons or glue... :-S
Where do I start? I think B would be fine with being messy. It's this mama who wouldn't! How do you keep the paint from going everywhere? Do you put down a sheet on the floor and hope for the best? I'm horrible!

Crayola washable paint comes off anything. I use either a plastic table cloth or a trash bag on the table and let them paint, Leo in his booster seat. Leo used to paint in his high chair with the tray on.

Well I already put the paint set you recommended above. What else can I get him for right now? Can you tell I'm charting new territory? Hold my hand! Haha

hmp1 · March 2014

Pokedot said:

hmp1 said:

Pokedot said:

Apparently I'm a terrible mother because we've never tried finger painting, brushes, crayons or glue... :-S
Where do I start? I think B would be fine with being messy. It's this mama who wouldn't! How do you keep the paint from going everywhere? Do you put down a sheet on the floor and hope for the best? I'm horrible!

Crayola washable paint comes off anything. I use either a plastic table cloth or a trash bag on the table and let them paint, Leo in his booster seat. Leo used to paint in his high chair with the tray on.

Well I already put the paint set you recommended above. What else can I get him for right now? Can you tell I'm charting new territory? Hold my hand! Haha

I have this

https://www.amazon.com/Crayola-Washable-Kids-Paint-Bottles/dp/B00004UBH3/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394653304&sr=8-2&keywords=crayola+paint

and

https://www.amazon.com/Crayola-Washable-Fingerpaints-Primary-primary/dp/B002VBXL52/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1394653337&sr=8-7&keywords=crayola+paint

these

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A6W4RE2/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and (bonus, I used half a dozen of these for Leo's valentine gift for his class)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GL1H6E/ref=oh_details_o06_s03_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Pokedot · March 2014

Thanks @hmp1 I've added it all to my Amazon cart!

watercolor5 · March 2014

For crayons we got the crayola washable triangular crayons. When we moved I saved the large sheets of paper the movers wrapped our breakables in- they're perfect for crafts. When I tried the painting, I taped about 3 of the sheets on our kitchen floor and stripped DD down to her diaper. Butcher block would work just as well.

AKB090609 · March 2014

Or just cut open a paper grocery bag!

watercolor5 · March 2014

I tried the zipoc bag painting tonight and it was also a failure... she touched the bag over the paint maybe twice and then announced that she was "all done"... I'm beginning to get quite the collection of 31 year-old paintings, and they aren't that good!

Maybe I should give up on the paint and try out some edible playdoh...

linzeek44 · March 2014

E loves art. We have chunky Melissa and Doug stampers. I put the ink on them and give him the stamps to push onto paper.

We do markers, crayons, paintbrushes, and paint-in-a-bag.

You can also do contact paper collages. Some dollar trees have contact paper for cheap and you can use tissue paper or wrapping paper or foam pieces or feathers and put them on for a neat collage. Tissue paper is neat because it almost makes a sun catcher in a window.

ShadowsRainFalls · March 2014

To contain mess, you can buy a plastic shower curtain liner at the dollar store and lay that down. It's easily wipeable, and if it gets too messy, you can throw it away. You could also do your painting in the tub. Easy clean up if you just turn on the water and run a bath for your kid as soon as they are done!

Greylan has a sensory issue too. He hates to be messy. As soon as he notices it, he is DONE. We use a lot of tools to play. Playing in the water in the sensory tub, we use long spoons and bowls and turkey basters. To do shaving cream, we use paintbrushes and spatulas and cups. To do play doh we use whatever we can find in the kitchen, plus lots of "little people" toys.

Basically, kids who don't like the mess and have sensory issues, you just give them the tools they need to feel more comfortable. Usually that means a barrier between them and the mess. Keep lots of wipes nearby in case they become messy and upset.

Good luck!

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