Tips and Tricks to Contain The Mess During Art Projects With Kids

Art is pretty popular around my house. I love creating art projects with my kids. Glitter, paint, glue… We love doing it all. I’ve always loved encouraging creativity in kids. In fact, my first job was as an arts and crafts chief for a summer day camp. I’m not such a fan of the mess that can happen when you set a bunch of kids loose with art supplies.

Over the years, I’ve learned some tricks that can help minimize the mess without limiting the fun. Thank goodness, because cleaning is not my thing.

Smocks

When you’re working with paint beyond watercolors, I strongly recommend smocks. In the past, I’ve asked my students to send in an old oversized t-shirt that would not be returned. I had extras in case we didn’t get a class set, but that wasn’t a problem. We got plenty. I threw them all in a plastic storage bin that I stored on top of my cabinets. I’d take it down and pass out shirts when we broke out the tempura paint. When the class finished painting, they’d stick the smock shirts back in the bin. I’d wash them as needed.

Trays – Contain The Mess Of Art Projects With Kids!

Trays are my best friend when it comes to art projects for kids. They provide boundaries, are portable, and can be stacked for drying. You can get small cookie trays for $1 at most dollar stores that will hold a standard-size sheet of construction paper. Trust me—it’s worth it to buy a bunch.

Paper Plates

Paper plates make great paint pallets. They can hold several colors at once. The best thing about paper plates is that they are disposable. There is no need to rinse the paint off. Easy!

Scrap Cans & Plastic Bags

A lot of teachers give groups pails to collect the scraps of paper during cut-and-paste projects. Usually, they are only for dry paper trash, but during art projects, I line those suckers with a plastic grocery bag. It’s a game-changer. Now, your students can throw away their scraps, their paper paint plates, and any paper towels or baby wipes they use without carrying anything across the room. No more drips! You can pull the plastic bags out and throw them away after the art project is done.

Lint Rollers – Make Cleaning Up After Art Projects With Kids Easy!

Let’s talk about glitter. I love it, and the kids love it. But…it goes everywhere and is tricky to clean up. To prevent the mess, add glitter over something that can catch the excess glitter. Trays work well for this. Alternatively, an oversized sheet of paper works, too. Glitter that spills can be cleaned up with a sticky lint roller followed by a baby wipe.

Sometimes, you have to go with the sensory experience of art and know that it might get messy. Other days, it’s a colored pencils kind of day because any mess is too much. My final suggestion is to know your limits and work within them. Art should be fun. It shouldn’t stress you out.