When it’s wet out we love to cling wrap a wall, door or sometimes even fridge (double or triple wrapped haha) and paint away!! Breeze for cleaning and kids love the chaos!

Keeping the messy play outside and worse case can spray down the kid’s with the hose

Washable play mats are our best friend! Otherwise disposable table cloths also work a treat.

My tip would be if it’s a messy activity inside, try keep it contained to one area and don’t use anything that would leave permanent marks. If you are put down some old tarp or a ‘mess’ blanket that you can reuse for those messy activities.

For messy school holiday antics, I unleash my inner cleaning wizardry! Arm myself with enchanted cleaning potions (aka multipurpose sprays), wield the mighty power of absorbent cloths, and don my trusty apron of protection. Embrace the chaos, but fear not, for with your cleaning spells, order shall prevail!

I like to let our kids enjoy themselves during the holiday, messy activities are their favourites, I ignore the mess and do a spring clean once they return to school, nothing that Oates can’t handle.

Boiling water and vinegar poured over any mess including food stains, paints and poop will do the trick!

Messy activities are a breeze to clean if done outside on outdoor setting instead of inside at kitchen table.

Painting is always messy but the granddaughters love it so we have big old t-shirts to cover clothes and put the plastic table under a tree on the grass. Paintings get spread across the lawn to dry. More fun outside and so much easier to clean up!

Little bits make the big mess go away

I literally cling wrap everything. If a mess occurs because I hadn’t thought of a preventative measure Dr Google (or in this case cleaning Google) is on hand for tips!

Always keep wet wipes on hand and if like me you don’t have a backyard to do messy play then invest in a nudie rudie mat (or similar) to contain the mess

Soap bar in a stocking tied to the tap for messy hands.
Hand towel on clothesline for drying.
Kids and mess go hand in hand

Get the kids involved. Make it more ‘fun’ for them to be involved by creating checklists, making a game of cleaning and rewarding chore completion. Dad can help too.

Play Doh is such a great activity, but the mess OMG! Putting mess mats underneath the kids’ tables is a good idea. Using wet play doh to collect other wet play doh is easy, or juts let it dry and vacuum later!

If using water or flour for messy play, use towels underneath. They will absorb the mess before it gets to the floor and spreads, preventing a much bigger mess! Then, you can just throw the towels in the washing machine right after and the floor will be clean straight away.

Kinetic sand activities are always fun.maje makes mess because of how fine the sand is. My kids spent gr play with it over the school holidays

Aprons! (Or old T-shirts as aprons)
Old newspapers beneath (and around) the work/play area then let the children have paints or pens.
We tend to have a mop bucket and nappisan at the ready in the laundry room too

Biggest tip for any messy play if possible to put down a waterproof play mat outside or even on our decking if it’s raining for a easier clean up, helps with easier wipe downs and not worry if anything drops on the floor.

Any painting can be done outside and then kids can hose off and have water fun