Messes

Sometimes our desire for a certain level of neatness and cleanliness actually gets in the way of things that, in the long run, are perhaps more important.

As I say this, mind you, I am sitting in an office cluttered with old computer cables, writing projects, receipts, and wrapping paper used in the last-minute Christmas-wrap rush. Apparently I think a LOT of things are more important than a spic-and-span, neat-and-tidy house. But I think we all (even people who have a low tolerance for clutter) can endure a certain amount of arts-and-crafts mess—with a few tricks to keep things as clean as possible.

• Expect the kids to help clean up, even from a very early age.

• Clean as you go, when possible. Having a wet rag or a roll of paper towels right at hand can keep the Elmer's-glue hands from spreading to outfits and hair, and keep the purple-tempera fingers from spreading to tables and chairs.

• Buy some plastic placemats that are used only for playdough or other clay play. If you store the placemats with the dough/clay, the kids won't forget to use them.

• Get a large plastic divided picnic plate to use when painting. You can squeeze a small amount of paint onto the edge of each area, and still have room in that area to mix colors. Plastic pop-out ice cube trays can work, too, especially if you leave some of the holes empty so that kids can mix paint. Of course, plastic paint palettes with lots of divisions are available at arts-and-crafts supply stores.

• Use old men's T-shirts or reversed button-up shirts as smocks.

• You can buy special paint pots, complete with paint brushes and lids. Using clean concentrated juice containers and foil works fairly well, too.

• Glitter normally comes in shaker-bottles. Definitely save any empty bottles, and then you can save mixed-glitter residue from art projects. Make sure the kids are working on a table covered with newspapers or a plastic tablecloth. Put a “mat” of waxed paper in front of each child; when the glitter project is done, form a funnel from the waxed paper and carefully pour the excess glitter into the mixed-glitter shaker.

• Having a special school supply box (like the ones I gave the kids) or art supply box can help kids know where to put things, and can also motivate their cooperation. It's just so much more fun to put things in their special places! (Some parents draw outlines of toys, school supplies, or whatever on the bottom of storage boxes so that they kids have puzzle-like fun putting things away.)

• It won't do for everything, but you can call some of your kids' toys collections. When it's time to put these items away, you can say, “Let's arrange our beanie baby display,” or “Let's fix up the dinosaur exhibit.” (I never prevented my kids from playing with their toys for collectible value purposes, but arranging, say, stuffed animals in a wall-mounted toy hammock when they aren't being used in play keeps them up off the floor, helps the kids find them the next time they want them, AND looks mighty cute.)

• Play rock'n'roll music when it's clean-up time. Or the sprightly parts of the Nutcracker Suite. Or any music you enjoy! There are special clean-up songs (if you don't know one, Google “clean up song” or search for “clean up” on YouTube), or sing “A Spoonful of Sugar (Makes the Medicine Go Down)” from Mary Poppins.

Some messes may not be worth it (we once made confetti eggs for a sleepover, but I should have had the kids use them OUTside—we were still finding a few bits confetti a year later!), but hopefully the concept of messiness doesn't get in the way of arts and crafts.