Keeping Creative Mess Contained

In my book, Time to Create: Hands-On Explorations in Process Art, I have included many practical ideas for minimising the mess when being creative with kids. One of those tips is to choose your creative space wisely.

And what better way to contain the mess then to take your art materials into the bathroom to let your children get creative in the bath or shower. It’s the perfect way to avoid messy, painted handprints on your nicely decorated dining room walls and has the added bonus of being a space that is easy to clean down afterward.

Immy recently began acting up at bath time, reluctant to have a bath or shower as she knows this is the first step in our ‘get ready for bed’ routine. As Mums we know that there is little more frustrating than delay tactics at nighttime when we are tired and just want to sit down and enjoy some adult time. So my solution, out came Dad 101’s shaving cream which I sprayed directly onto the shower screen and we had a great time ‘painting’ pictures and writing letters and names on the lovely, creamy surface. Now it has become part of our nightly routine. Sometimes I will add a little food colouring to the shaving cream as an extra special treat (just be aware that the very intense colours can stain hands, it doesn’t bother me as it does eventually wash off but if your child likes to body paint then you might not want to head out with a bright blue child the next day. As always with food colouring…a little goes a long way!)

Bath time is much easier in our house since we added a little art to our shower time 🙂

Do you have a favourite creative activity just right for bath time or another suggestion for getting kids to love their bath?

Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.

Read more of Christie's adventures at https://childhood101.com.

Read the comments or scroll down to add your own:

Amanda - Busy Brissy Mum says
May 31, 2011 at 2:36 PM

Think I'm keen to give this activity a go before bath time tonight. My girlies would LOVE it. We enjoy shaving cream painting but doing it in the bath/ shower is an excellent idea. You are the funnest!!!
- Christie Burnett says
  May 31, 2011 at 9:13 PM
  
  Hope you had a tub full of fun ;)
Jude says
June 1, 2011 at 2:04 AM

We made some of our own bath crayons which were quite successful: http://www.artful-adventures.co.uk/2011/04/19/home-made-bath-crayons/
- Christie-Childhood 101 says
  June 1, 2011 at 7:45 AM
  
  Great idea, Jude, thank you for the tip :)
karen says
June 1, 2011 at 3:12 AM

i used to do the shaving cream trick when i taught 3rd grade. whenever the kids' desks started looking gunky, i'd bring in shaving cream, spray some onto each desk, and let the kids practice their cursive. :) great ideas!
- Christie-Childhood 101 says
  June 1, 2011 at 7:48 AM
  
  Love it =)
frog goose & bear (emma) says
June 1, 2011 at 8:32 AM

Brillliant! Shaving foam! We'll be giving it a go! I have written a number of posts on this exact topic.... for us colored baths work a treat! http://froggooseandbear.blogspot.com/search/label/colored%20bath
Alissa says
June 1, 2011 at 12:38 PM

My latest mess free art was inspired by "The artful parent". Putting paint into a snaplock bag, closing and squishing, making pretty patterns and mixing colours. Loved the mess free-ness of it. I think I enjoyed it more than my 2 year old son... but then again I enjoy pretty much all our art experiences more than he does! :) Will definitely have to try shaving cream painting in the bathroom!
Kymmie says
June 1, 2011 at 12:48 PM

This idea is pure gold! Love it! (And I wonder if we couldn't get them to use a scrubbing brush instead of a paint brush to clean the shower while they are at it!) Hmmm, nothing like killing two birds... xx
Kylie D says
June 3, 2011 at 8:56 AM

Sorry to sound too commercial but these wipes really do work. I have a newborn (well two months old now) and have had trouble keeping up with the housework especially the shower and have started using these wipes. I don't necessarily like using disposable items but right now need an easy solution. They don't smell to much or too toxic either.

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Keeping Creative Mess Contained

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