A Guide To (Almost) Mess Free Craft Activities for Children

A Guide To (Almost) Mess Free Craft Activities for Children

Most children love doing crafts and there’s no doubt that crafting has both sensory and creative benefits. Crafting is fun, educational, and calming but can also be very messy sometimes. Paint on clothes, furniture and walls, Play-Doh stuck on children’s socks and on the carpet, and let’s not even get started on the topic of glitter… Luckily, not all craft activities have to be messy – there are plenty of fun mess free craft activities for children too. Let’s explore some ideas in this guide.

Mess Free Painting

There’s a time and a place (or perhaps an age) for painting with liquid paints or water colours and brushes. For days when you don’t have the energy for messy painting and the clean-up that goes with it, your children can still enjoy painting by using paint sticks. These are such a great invention and offer a similar experience but without the mess. There are several brands available now but we love Little Brian Paint Sticks which I believe is the brand that created the product first.

Kinetic Sand

Kinetic Sand is another amazing invention! It allows children to have fun with sand with an easy clean-up. We use a Kinetic Sand play set that includes a tray that keeps most of the sand contained. I pop it on a picnic mat and any sand that does escape can easily be shaken into the bin or in the garden. Kinetic Sand doesn’t stick on hands or surfaces so is a great option for mess free sensory and creative fun.

Pipe Cleaner Craft

Pipe cleaners are great to have in your craft supplies as they can be used for lots of fun projects. Your kids can freestyle to create different shapes or animals for example, or you can look up pipe cleaner craft ideas on Pinterest of Google for specific ideas.

Waxi Doodles

Just like pipe cleaners, Waxi Doodles can be shaped into lots of things. Additionally, these modelling sticks have a wax coating formula which means that you can stick them to different surfaces and to each other. They’re also reusable and lots of fun for crafts and educational activities.

Create Your Own Bouquet of Flowers

Using a set like the Amazing Flower Kit from the Happy Puzzle Company, or using coloured card or coloured foam sheets and other materials such as straws, kids can craft their own bouquet of beautiful flowers. This is lots of fun, lets creativity flow freely and is also completely mess free.

Beads, beads, beads

There are lots of different types of beads to enjoy – wooden beads, plastic beads, glass beads, metal beads. They come in all sizes and shapes and can be used for lots of different craft projects and activities without creating mess. From making bracelets and necklaces, to making creations using Hama Beads – there are so many great things that you can do with beads.

Origami

Origami is a wonderful mess free craft option. All you need is a piece of paper and some instructions to follow which you can get online or from books. There are special origami paper squares that you can buy but you can use regular paper too. You can also get sets that includes a book with instructions and sheets of paper, like this lovely National Trust: Nature Origami Set.

Card Marking

Making your own birthday or Christmas cards at home is another fun activity for kids to do that doesn’t create much, if any, mess. You can use whatever materials you have at home to decorate the cards or simply do drawings on blank cards.

Scrapbooking / Collage Making

Scrapbooking and collage making are two other activities that children can enjoy without making lots of mess. Grab some old newspapers, magazines, books, leaflets – whatever you have – and let your child find images and text that they like to put together in their scrapbook or to use for making a collage.

Sticker Picture / Drawing

When we have some kids stickers available, my kids love to do a sticker picture. They get inspiration from the theme of the stickers, then create a full drawing on the same theme and incorporate the stickers into the drawing. It’s great entertainment plus it practises planning and executing a project too.

Washi Tape Fun

Another great invention that can be used for many things is washi tape. Washi tape is a paper tape that is easy to peel off, making it suitable for a variety of projects. Great for using for decorating different items, for card making and for making your own book marks, and much more. You can get washi tape in lots of different colours and in lots of different themed designs too.

Stickers by Numbers

Last in this guide are Stickers by Numbers books. They are like paint by numbers projects except you use stickers instead of paint. This is a completely mess free activity that can be enjoyed anywhere. The books are great for travelling and for camping trips too. They come in a variety of themes and difficulty levels so that you can find the perfect one for you child.

Conclusion – Mess Free Craft Activities

As you can see, there are plenty of mess free craft activities for children and parents to enjoy. These are just a few ideas – I’m sure you can find many more online if you need more ideas. These mess free options are ideal for parents who don’t enjoy the mess of crafting or for days when you don’t have the time or energy for the clean-up!