Mess-Free Arts & Crafts | Essex County Moms

We love to see our kids get creative, make art, play, and proudly show us their masterpiece. What we don’t love so much? The mess. So when we stumbled across a post about Less Mess Arts & Crafts for Kids from Home with the Harrisons (a lifestyle and parenting blog from Lindsey Harrison of New Canaan & Darien Moms) we *had* to share. Below, see Lindsey’s best mess-free arts and crafts to do with her daughter Wesleigh—try them out this week!

Chalkola Markers

Chalkola chalk markers are the latest addition to our art supplies and they have truly been a smash hit. Every morning, Wesleigh perches at our kitchen island and draws while I prepare breakfast. This bundle we received as a gift has been perfect – Wes practices writing W’s and shapes and has loved getting creative with each of the 30 colors provided. Suitable for non-porous surfaces, Chalkola’s markers are dustless, non-toxic and created with a water based ink formula making them super easy to clean up. Trust me—Wesleigh got a bit carried away drawing on herself and even on our counters, so I was thrilled to see the chalk wipe off with just a wet towel.

Kinetic Sand

Soft, stretchy and squeezable, Wes has a lot of fun playing and creating with Kinetic Sand. It’s a wonderful sensory activity and good alternative to play doh. We simply dump the sand into a plastic bin, our ‘sand box’ and let her focus on running the sand through her hands, scooping it up with shovels, creating castles, and even dropping in plastic animal figures. Wesleigh’s Barbie has even been known to take a trip to the beach once or twice. Because the sand sticks to itself it’s relatively easy to clean up – even when tossed around by a toddler. Safe for kids, it is non-toxic, gluten and casen free and bonus, it never dries out.

Paint in a Bag

This simple, mess free painting requires little prep. Simply grab a Ziploc bag, your child’s finger paint and add the paints into the bag – you can sort into ROYGBV to create a rainbow, or whatever your child’s preference may be. We used four colors and placed them in the bag horizontally. I cannot emphasis this next step enough: make sure to seal the bag properly. Once the bag is sealed tightly, tape the bag down onto a flat surface. We use Wesleigh’s kitchen table. Encourage your child to blend the colors with their fingers (you can put a white piece of construction paper down beneath the bag to serve as a canvas). Enjoy what beautiful artwork your child creates with paint – mess free!

Dab and Dot Markers

I always encourage Wes to express herself through art and find that items such as these Doodle Hog markers (they come with a simple twist cap and easy grip feature) have continued to support learning (color names) and development of her fine motor skills. These are water-based, washable and non-toxic.

Magic Doodle Paint Mat

Wes received this Magic Doodle Mat as a gift for her birthday this year. The water paint pad is large enough for more than one child to paint at a time and because it does not require actual paint, the toy is nearly mess free. The additional stencil tools provide a fun educational component that Wes can use for years to come.

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