Art for children who hate mess
By: sharon
I never thought this would happen to my son. He, whose favourite pastime as a baby was smearing you-know-what all over his cot. He, whose mother allows messy activities, encourages it even! It’s a cruel trick of genetics that he dislikes art and messy play so much.
Or should I say, disliked? I’ll show you how I convince my son to engage in sensory play; an important opportunity for children to have. Every child is different, and these family fun ideas can be tailored to suit your child.
We can’t force children to do art.
The more we try to nag our children to paint if they don’t like it, the more they’re likely to resist. Suggest an art activity calmly, and if they refuse, let it go.
Give your child chances to do art without having to touch the mess.
You could give your child a pair of disposable gloves as they paint, or put a blob of paint inside a zip-lock bag. Your child will still have a sensory, tactile experience as a result. You can give them a paint-brush, or objects they could print with, so their hand isn’t physically touching the paint.
Provide your child with water-play activities.
Even though my son’s not keen on messy paint play, he likes getting into water play. Take advantage of this at bath time, or by giving children a water trough to play with outside (make sure you supervise constantly). Add some toys to the water. Even children with the biggest aversion to mess will enjoy this. It’s a great stepping-stone to messier things.
Put some food colouring and water into a spray bottle and let them spray paint. This gives the child a chance to see how fun painting can be, from a distance.
Play dough can make a good lead-in to messy art, too.
It’s funny, but a lot of kids who don’t like slimy paint, often like handling a ball of play dough. This is a form of messy play, but because their hands don’t get too dirty, it’s less confronting for the child.
Offer gluing activities to your child.
Glue can get messy, but because it’s colourless, some children who hate mess will try it as it’s harder to see the mess on their hands. If they still don’t like gluing with a brush, give them a glue stick. It’s much easier for the child to feel as if they have control over the mess.
Build on your child’s interests when setting up an art activity.
My son has an obsession with vehicles of all types (mostly trains). I set up a printing activity for him to drive trains, cars and aeroplanes through paint, then onto paper. He enjoyed watching the wheels make tyre tracks! He was able to keep his hands clean, but still explore what paint can do.
Think about things your child loves. Do they like dinosaurs? Your child might enjoy stomping their dinosaur toy’s feet through paint. Better yet, they may love wearing some big, home-made dinosaur feet to stomp through the paint themselves! The ideas are endless.
Sooner or later, your child will end up getting messy.
When you let your child take time to get used to messy play, eventually they will decide to get their hands dirty. It just has to be their idea. We don’t have to make them touch it before they’re ready.
How do your children feel about messy play? If they don’t like it, how do you handle it? What’s their favourite art activity?
sharon
A qualified childcare worker turned stay-at-home mum of three, Sharon is passionate about fostering creativity and self-expression in children. She wants mothers to see themselves as more than the invisible lady that everyone dumps their bags and dirty clothes on. She writes the blog, Hear Mum Roar.
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