Kids making big mess after arts at home, how to manage messes?

[Princess5]

Our kids 6 and 4 love doing arts at home with tempera paint, water colors etc.(we use Home Art Studio lessons on DVDs and other random things they like)..they make a big mess on the dining table and in the sink where they try to clean paint brushes. What they try to clean up is totally bad, I have a BIG job after their art to clean up. I feel like limiting their art but they love it so feel bad, but I am tired of the messes. Any ideas to limit messes? Help them clean? Help me manage? How art is done in your home?

[Gil]

My boys are older than your kids so the way its done here is that they clean up after themselves because if I have to clean it up, I throw it out and disallow those supplies in the house again for weeks and weeks and weeks. Or, in child speak--"It'd be forever before you get anymore."

 

However, since that isn't going to work for you, what about letting them do art outside and giving them a bucket of sudsy water to use to wash up afterwards--then all you have to do is dump the bucket over?

 

Its winter so outside art might not be feasible--what about investing in a tarp, a few buckets and blocking off a part of the house--garage/breezeway/porch/low traffic room and allowing them to make their art on that tarp and then just dropping their painty-stuff in the bucket of soap water afterwards?

[Arcadia]

My boys do their Art lessons at our patio on a foldable 6 feet long table. They rinse their brushes in a small bucket of water before bringing the bucket into the bathroom to clean their brushes.

 

When weather is bad and they do Art indoors, we lay the floor with flattened cardboard boxes and lay used newspaper over those. It makes clean up a lot easier.

 

We have also done Art on the bathroom floor when my kids were younger. Easy to clean up with wet wipes.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I got a big vinyl table cloth for the table.  At that age, I helped them with cleanup (mostly by supervising and talking them through it.)  And we used a lot of paper towels. 

[The Girls' Mom]

Vinyl tablecloth on the table (quick wipe down, dried and put away).  Toss all the brushes in a container with water until you can wash them. (but don't let them soak too long, or you'll ruin them)  Make sure the kids are in minimal clothing.  (when mine were very small they painted in their undies, and then it was straight to the bathtub after).  If the floor gets dirty, you can always put a vinyl tablecloth on the floor too.  

 

I cleaned brushes myself until mine were 10 or older.  

[Princess5]

Vinyl tablecloth sounds great. Is it really $3 right now at Walmart? If yes I can bring 2 and avoid so much mess. Any other places to find cheap vinyl tablecloth or oil cloth? Walmart is far from me.

[Princess5]

Can anyone link it here, thanks

[The Girls' Mom]

You can also find them cheap at dollar stores.

 

I think there is a lot of value in letting kids be messy in art.  It is REALLY hard to get creative if you are focused on being neat.  Even at my age, I make big ol' messes in my studio area...lol.  When my kids were little, I just kind of accepted that messes would be made, and that I wasn't going to worry about the state of my table.  Now that my kids are pretty much grown, my kitchen chairs no longer have a finish on them, and my table top is a wreck.  But, I slap a pretty tablecloth on it and I don't have to look at stains anymore.  My chairs...well, a cost of having kids that I was willing to accept.  I kind of thought that I'd get a nice set after they moved out, but now I think I'll keep them and let the grandkids be messy on them too..lol.  

[Farrar]

I agree in reminding yourself that there's value in the mess.

 

For us, I just made the kids always help with the clean up afterward. They couldn't do a very good job of cleaning brushes or wiping things, but they could bring me all the brushes, throw away all the wipes I wiped, put things away as directed, etc.

[Ellie]

Our kids 6 and 4 love doing arts at home with tempera paint, water colors etc.(we use Home Art Studio lessons on DVDs and other random things they like)..they make a big mess on the dining table and in the sink where they try to clean paint brushes. What they try to clean up is totally bad, I have a BIG job after their art to clean up. I feel like limiting their art but they love it so feel bad, but I am tired of the messes. Any ideas to limit messes? Help them clean? Help me manage? How art is done in your home?

 

Feel free to limit their art. They will find other things to do that they will enjoy just as much.

[J&JMom]

At that age I would cover the table with garbage bags , open a cheap $2 package of brushes and throw the whole mess in the trash when done.  

Edited January 28, 2016 by J&JMom

[wintermom]

I used a plastic birthday party table cloth with Scoobie Doo on it. It was big, cheap and lasted well. For the brushes, I had a tall plastic cup and put all the brushes in there upside down. I'd wash them myself and dry and store them in the cup. I had a few painting t-shirts (my old ones) and some kid-sized Home Depot. 

 

There are some other colourful art supplies that aren't quite as messy as paints. You could try pastels, watercolour crayons and markers. 

[rebcoola]

Dollar Store plastic table clothes that you gather up and throw away, also sometimes they have the reusable vinyl ones to.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I was able to use the dollar store ones multiple times.  I'd just use the wand in the shower to shower them off, let them drip dry over the curtain rod and reuse.  They didn't  last long but until I got my vinyl one (which by the way, was just some vinyl table cloth material I got at the fabric store), the dollar store ones were cheap and easy to use. 

[Sherry in OH]

I agree that vinyl tablecloths are ideal – they stay in place, are waterproof, and can be reused for years.  But, if lack of one is keeping you from allowing art, disposable plastic tablecloths are available at many dollar and grocery stores.  They are not as sturdy as vinyl and may need to be taped to the table to keep them from sliding.  You can also use a shower curtain.  By the way, the project tablecloth is never spotless. It gets a quick wipe and when dry is folded topside in.  Bits of tape cover minor tears. 

 

Have the children wear aprons or painting smocks to protect their clothing.  The aprons from Home Depot and Lowes kid workshops are great.  Or have designated ‘painting’ shirts. 

 

Put a plate or sturdy cup on the table to hold dirty paintbrushes.  If you give each child several brushes, there is no need to clean brushes between colors. It is no more work to clean several brushes at once than to clean one brush multiple times.   It is less messy since the brushes make just one trip to the sink.  If you use a cup, dump it in the sink then use the same cup to hold the clean wet brushes. 

 

At four and six, I would expect to do most of the clean up.  Or to clean up after their clean up.  On days you don’t feel up to it, don’t allow painting.  There are plenty of other art media they can explore. 

[lllll]

nm

Edited February 2, 2016 by - 8 95

[wendyroo]

I kept the kids and their messy art in the kitchen on tables that could be wiped and scrubbed - Staples tables in one house, and a giant formica topped table in another house.  At those ages, I would have cleaned up the kids when they were done and sent them off to play.  Then, I would have cleaned up the rest of it.  I also stayed in the kitchen when they were painting, cooking usually; but sometimes sitting at the table with them and reading or helping them. 

 

My dc did a lot of colored pencils, markers, Sculpey, and stuff like that.  I don't remember them painting quite so much until they were older maybe?  Although I do remember finger paints.  The biggest problem with those was that 5 kids could use up all the paint in one session.  So it never lasted long.  I only got the more expensive paints when there was no danger of their painting the tables or walls or floors or each other or the dog or  .... ;)  They used to love shaping Sculpey into things, baking it, and then painting it. 

 

And they all still do art as adults.  All draw.  A few still paint.  One dd just sent me a packet of copies of her artwork to frame and hang in my house.  :)

 

ETA:  I should probably add in here that I really, really wanted my dc to do art.  So I went out of my way to encourage it and avoided anything I thought would discourage them.  I cleaned up the messes when they were small.  I organized the supplies and kept them clean and sorted each time they were done.  I bought good quality stuff - paper, colored pencils, markers, paints, and anything I saw that I (or they) thought looked interesting.  I let them use as much as they wanted of anything.  And much more.  Thus, the mess didn't really bother me, although I did try to 'contain' it.  Oh, and I didn't allow any of them to make fun of each other's creations as young kids are prone to do.  That was one reason I was always within earshot of the kitchen, or sitting nearby, or cooking as they did their art - so I could nip that in the bud before it even got started.  When they were older and more confident in their abilities, and could take the 'comments', I didn't have to do that anymore.

:iagree:

 

Our kitchen table is an old lab table from MIT that the chemistry department was giving away when they renovated.  It is pretty much indestructible and the kids don't have to take any special care when they are doing art there.

 

I've organized our supplies in such a way that the kids can largely get themselves set up and put away.  Art smocks are kept in a cardboard box so they don't make a mess if they are still a bit painty when they are put away.  Tempera paints are all on a pull out shelf so the kids can see all the color choices.  We always use paper plates (stored right next to the paints) as palettes and throw them away when we are done.  In the paint cabinet there is a basket with all the brushes to choose from and the tupperwares that we use for rinse water.

 

I took a picture of the "paint set-up" and taped it on the inside of the paint cabinet door so my boys remember everything they need (smock, paper, palette of paint, brush(es), tupperware of water, paper towel for hands/brushes/spills).  So far, my older boys can do most of the prep, but I still put the paints on their plate to avoid excess waste.  At clean up time they put all their brushes into the tupperware of water and set that in the sink (I wash them to ensure an adequate job).  Smock and extra paper go away, paintings go onto the drying rack, painty plate and paper towel get thrown away and they wipe down the table with a wet wash cloth.

 

Wendy

[fairfarmhand]

We "arted"  with clay, colored pencils, pastels, crayons, oil pastels,  and watercolors.

 

Didn't use acrylic or tempera paint for many years.

 

Just say no to glitter. It's evil.

[Carol in Cal.]

Rules:  

1.  Kitchen or back deck (off the kitchen) ONLY.  Plastic tables ONLY.

2.  No going out of those areas for any reason without my active participation.  My active participation might include wrapping you completely in an old towel and carrying  you to the bathroom like that.  

3.  I will bring out a ton of materials, because I want you to be able to explore.  And they will be good quality ones, too, because you can't really get the idea of how great this can be with cheap junky ones.

4.  I will be in and out all the time, and I might even sit down and try something myself.

5.  If things are extremely messy, I'll put out a wash basin of warm soapy water and an old towel for you to rinse your hands with.

6.  That time when you suddenly switched from painting the Valentines red to painting your bare feet red, and then walked through the house delightedly to show them to me?  I forgive you.  And it made me very vigilant.  And thankfully you missed the rug.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Carol in Cal.

[wapiti]

I buy vinyl tablecloths - really, just a large rectangle of cloth - from JoAnn Fabrics.  It's usually in the back on a slanted rack.  Some are called "marine vinyl" but there are others.

 

I sometimes put a tablecloth on the floor where they just sit and paint there, though I also keep a vinyl tablecloth under my real table cloth anyway, so I just take off the real cloth when they want to paint.