Clean Messy Play Ideas for Toddlers
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Play is how kids learn, and unfortunately, it can be messy. Kids just love messy play. Painting, sensory bins, playing in dirt, you name it. Though we do let our kids have some fun with traditional messy play, I like to keep the mess under control on some days, if I can help it. Here are a few activities that mimic their messy play alternatives, but are not that messy at all. They are also pretty quick to clean up, making them perfect indoor activities!
The Aqua Draw Doodle Mat
I love the Aqua Draw Doodle Mat almost as much as my kids do. It is a mat that changes color when you paint with water. It comes with all kinds of art supplies, such as pens, paint bushes, and sponges, that you can easily load up with water and they are ready to use. The beauty of this activity is that it feels like they are painting, but it’s really just water. And, the little paint brushes that you can load up with water only have room for a little bit of water, so you don’t have to worry too much about big spills. The mat is also thick enough where I have not had any problems with water going through the mat onto our floor. When they’re done, you can just hang the mat out to dry and the mat turns back into a white canvas. This is the kind of painting that I love, so easy, no accidents, and still so much fun!
Washing Trucks
This play idea is centered around cleaning, which I love! We’re currently at the stage where the kids love to feel independent. They’ve been loving wiping up their own spills lately, so what more if they get to clean their own toy trucks? In this activity, we use a plain, non-electronic toy truck that is able to be sprayed with water safely. I see others playing this game, but usually using actual dirt to get the cars dirty. However, I like to set up the vehicle cleaning situation half way, to the point that they look sudsy, with shaving cream, rather than the scenario where the trucks are fresh out of a mud pit. I keep the truck inside of a mini sensory bin and I apply the shaving cream to the truck. Then we use spray bottles filled with water and paper towels to rinse the truck clean and dry it. This way of pretending to wash the truck feels much more clean when you’re not actually using dirt, and using spray bottle keeps the water under control rather than using a tub of water. Another plus about this activity is that shaving cream typically has soap and moisturizers that make it a pretty gentle cleaning agent, so when I help the kids wipe up the mess when they are done, it almost feels like their play area is cleaner than before they started playing!
Soap Markers and Paint
We received a Crayola Bath Activity Bucket for Christmas one year, which included bath paints and markers. Using bath paint is a fun way for your toddlers to feel like they are painting the bathtub walls and themselves with no boundaries! It definitely looks messy. And the best part is that it is all soap, so everything washes clean, including your child. If you are having trouble with your child enjoying bath time, this is a good way to make it a little more fun and exciting.
Mess Free Markers
I’m a fan of Crayola Mess Free Markers! It gives my kids the sense of freedom when coloring, but it also gives me the peace of mind that they will not be able to mark up my furniture or walls. You do need to buy special coloring book pages for these markers to actually work, but they sell plenty of different character coloring books in the mess free marker version.
Messy play is fun and all, but sometimes, us parents don’t need another thing to clean up. These clean “messy” play ideas will fulfill a need to play messy and also help us parents get a much needed break. I know my kids love all of these activities. I hope these activities will help keep your little ones busy and have lots of fun too!
