4 Easy-to-clean-up Crafts for Kids

Posted on 16/03/2016 by Momma Jo

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Letting your kids get crafty allows you to have more free time for you. Be it as it may, the mess they create can be pretty overwhelming and difficult to clean. If you want to keep your kids occupied but you definitely don’t want to spend your evening (and night) cleaning the living room couch, you had better go with some easy-to-clean-up crafts like the ones we offer in this article. Enjoy!

1. Pool Noodle Spiders
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Our first suggestion are those cute and benevolent pool noodle spiders that will fascinate your kids. They can be made outside, which is a huge plus, especially if you are looking for a mess-free craft project. What you need is some pipe cleaners, pool noodles, sticky eyes and dots. Check out this quick tutorial on pool noodle spiders. We bet your children will love this idea. Just make sure you are around for when they need your help.

Reasons to choose this one: affordable, no paint, no gluing, no mess, it can be done outdoors.

2. Stuffed Glove Monsters
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Every kid leaves behind many single gloves, the matches of which are nowhere to be found. Ever wondered what to do with them? One thing is for sure, they can be repurposed into something else. So before you toss them in the recycle bin, make sure to try out this one; it’s monster gloves. This is a mess-free craft project that your kids will easily fall for. What you need is a few gloves, buttons, a pair of scissors, batting, sewing needle. Here is a tutorial on this one. You want to keep an eye on your kids throughout the project. They will need your help throughout the steps.

Reasons to choose this one: affordable, simple, easy to make, fun, mess-free, it can be done outdoors.

3. Stone Animals

Nothing keeps your home from messes than doing all the craft projects outdoors. Hence this simple and fun way to turn stones into art. Coax your kids into making their own stone animals. The things you will need are white stones and pens. If you don’t have white stones, have your children paint them white using white acrylic paint. And before you begin, don’t forget to send your small ones on the hunt for large flat stones in the yard. This part of the process is fun as hell to them, too. Plus, while they are out looking for stones, you can have some free time for yourself. See? Everything has a bright side.

Reasons to choose this one: easy to make, simple and affordable supplies, mess-free, it can be done outdoors.

4. Button Bracelets

This project is very easy to do and is not likely to create a big mess. No paint or other messy materials are used, which means your work area will be safe. No steam cleaning will be required to clean up the room after the craft project is over are sayfig Acton Cleaning Services. Just make sure to pick buttons of different colors and sizes so that your children can make funny colorful bracelets. You also need a pair of scissors and a length of elastic or ribbon. Note that if the holes in the buttons are small, a sewing needle will be required as well. Show your kids how to make their own bracelets and watch them have fun. It’s a wise idea to supervise them throughout the process, especially if they have to use a sewing needle.

Reasons to choose this one: mess-free, easy to clean up, frugal, simple supplies, no paint, it can be done outdoors.

As you can see, crafting can be clutter-free as well. Try out any of these suggestions

Written and submitted by: Demi Giles from Clean Start Cleaning Services.

Sponge Painting

Posted on 14/08/2009 by Momma Jo

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I got this wonderful idea after reading The Attached Mama blog

Materials Needed:

Scissors
Sponges or foam
Tempera Paint
Water
Flat saucers or dishes
Construction paper

Use scissors to cut sponges into interesting shapes. You might cut out alphabet letters, numbers, geometric shapes, animals, spaceships, or whatever your child likes. You can also use foam instead of sponges – it is available at hardware, craft, and fabric stores in large sheets.

Dilute liquid tempera paint with water. Pour small amounts of different colors in saucers. Let the kids press the sponges into saucers of paint, then onto large sheets of construction paper to make designs. Have them write their names, create landscapes, or tell a story with their sponge shapes.

Creative Options

Have the kids repeat the same shapes over and over to make wrapping paper. Or, make greeting cards, picture frames, or place mats.

Trouble-Shooting Tips

Ask the kids to keep sponges on the paper. Keep the activity contained at a table covered with newspapers.

How to Make Slime

Posted on 14/08/2009 by Momma Jo

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Materials Needed:

A large table
1 cup cornstarch per child
About 1/4 cup water per child
Food coloring (many colors)
1 zip-lock plastic sandwich bag per child

Set up a big table outside (if possible), and cover it with a newspaper. Your party guests can stand up while making slime if there aren’t enough chairs. Hand out sandwich bags and let the kids pick out a favorite shade of food coloring.

When children have their materials, begin demonstrating the following steps, pausing often and checking that the kids are following directions properly:

1. Pour 1 cup cornstarch into the sandwich bag, and slowly add about 1/4 cup water mixed with a few drops of food coloring.
2. Carefully press the excess air out of the sandwich bag and seal it shut.
3. Knead the sandwich bag until the mixture is well-blended and smooth. Make sure not to puncture the bag!

Watch the delight as the kids mix up the “magic” concoction, which slowly changes from dry to wet, from hard to soft, and from white to a color. Tell the kids to first squeeze the mixture firmly and quickly in the bag and then feel the mixture “melt” in their hands.

Creative Options

The kids can add two different shades of food coloring to their slime to make a new color.

Let everyone put glitter in the slime, at the same time the food coloring is added, for a little sparkle.

Another fun and magical recipe is a catsup and mustard creation that the kids can work with to make designs. Just put a blob of catsup and a blob of mustard in a zip-lock bag for each child, seal it, and let the kids create colorful designs by pressing or “drawing” on the baggies with their fingers. The two colors will stay separated for a while. Once they’ve completely mixed, pour the contents in a bowl and use this special sauce to top hotdogs, burgers, or French fries.

Trouble-Shooting Tips

Even though the described slime mixture is nontoxic, it’s not a good idea for the kids to put it in their mouth. Warn them ahead of time to touch but not taste.

To be on the safe side, seal the sandwich bags with electrical tape to make sure they won’t open during handling.

If you have a large group, premeasure the materials so that all the kids have to do is pour and mix.

Provide the children with old T-shirts to put over their clothing so the food coloring won’t stain their good clothes.