Craft Tip for Parents: Protecting the Work Space

Have you ever discouraged you kids from pulling out their paints or play doh or markers simply because you don't want them to make a mess? Yes, crafting can be messy. But protecting the work space is easy! Here are some cheap and clever ways to protect your furniture, your carpet and even your kids, while they are crafting! Next time your kids want to get creative, let them go wild and don't worry about the mess!

Always keep some old newspapers on hand. If your kids are going to paint or color with markers, put some newspaper on the table. Keep it from sliding around with a few pieces of scotch tape. Then if your kids spill paint or color off the paper your table is protected. Putting newspaper down is also a good idea when kids are doing cutting crafts. Just roll up the newspaper when they are done and all the cuttings will be tucked away in the newspaper. Then just toss it in the trash!

Buy a bunch of dollar store tablecloths or shower curtain liners. Use them to cover entire tables for large crafting sessions. You can even put them over the chairs. No room on the table? Put the tablecloths on the floor! Then let your kids lay on the floor to color in their favorite coloring books or to play with their play doh. You can even serve a snack and not worry about them getting crumbs on the carpet.

Trash bags also come in handy. You can cut open a trash bag to cover a large area. You can also cut a hole in the bottom of the trash bag and two holes on the side and slip it over your child to wear as an apron. This will protect their clothes. Trash bags also make good tablecloths for small tables like TV trays.

In a pinch, you can always use household items like paper towels, old towels, old sheets, and even plastic wrap or aluminum foil to cover your work surface. And if you are worried about liquids getting spilled and rolling off a table onto the floor you can also cover the floor! Or you can let your kids do their crafting on a tray with a little edge. That keeps liquids from rolling off the table and also keeps things like crayons or beads from rolling off the table too. You can slip the tray into a trash bag so it will stay clean.

Still worried about your kids making a mess? How about letting them do their crafting in the tub! Let them tape a canvas to the bathtub wall and they can sit on the edge of the tub and paint the day away! Any paint they spill can just be washed away when they are done. You can also set up a TV tray and a small chair in the tub and call it their workshop. Your kids will love it!

If you need some neat ideas for crafts for kids, check out some of my many craft articles! Here are two fun recipes that use powdered soap [How to Make Soap Suds Clay and Soap Suds Snow]. This is a very simple recipe for play doh [How to Make Flour Modeling Dough]. And if your kids love to paint, you must try some of these paint recipes [Paint Recipes for Kids - Foamy Paint, Instant Finger Paint, Glossy Paint]. If you want to get more of my craft tips please subscribe to my articles and you will get a notice each time I publish something new. Just use the subscribe link at the top of this page. Happy crafting... with no mess, that is!