No mess messy crafts

I may have said before, many times, that I am not good at crafts. Whether it is a side effect of being left-handed (or cack-handed as it is so delightfully put sometimes) which has meant I've never been quite as able to use crafty things properly, or whether I just have no talent or imagination in that field, I'm not really sure. I'm not particularly interested. Missy Woo, however, does like making things. Which is a problem, when you have a mum like me.

Missy Woo with her kit

Another thing I dislike is mess. Well, yes, I have children, we live permanently in a mess but I can cope with untidiness even though, in an ideal world, the house would stay tidy and the children would clear up after themeselves, which we all know won't happen. But mess that I actually have to clean up? No way, I'm not a fan. I don't have time for housework as it is, why do I want to give myself any more cleaning to do?

This is again problematic when you have small children as you do really need to let them do messy things and anyway, it's fun. We have managed in the past with judicious use of messy mats etc although most activities with high mess factor have been relegated to the kitchen, which is wipe-clean friendly. The only things I allow to be done in other rooms is colouring with crayons and felt pens (thankfully, we have passed the draw-on-the-walls-when-Mummy-is-not-looking phase) and sticky mosaics that I discovered during the Toyologist programme. Even playdough and its inferior alternative, Moon Dough, cannot be trusted.

Then I was offered the chance to try some Sand Art kits from Kids Bee Happy and thought we'd give it a try. We got sent two kits, one a very girly set of pictures and one of a more boyish nature, complete with little tubes of sand. The picture boards are self-adhesive and you peel back the different shapes and pour the sand on, and it sticks to the self adhesive bit.

Making their pictures

I left the children doing the pictures with Daddy on Sunday morning and all he had to do was put them on tray and he was happy to let them make their pictures in the living room. When I came back, the pictures were virtually done and all the waste sand was on the trays apart from a little bit on the coffee table which was easily cleared away. The only thing was both Monkey and Missy Woo decided that you didn't peel off the background bit so they both have yellow backgrounds to their pictures! Oh, and Monkey pulled a bit too far when peeling one of the shapes off and managed to pull some of the picture away but he is clumsy and generally needs to take more care.

Both Monkey and Missy Woo loved doing the sand art. I thought that Monkey might get bored but both of them were completely absorbed in the activity. The pack also comes with laminating pouches so you can preserve your little darling's creation but our laminator has sadly laminated one sheet too many and expired some months ago so that is not an option for us.

And afterwards, it was pretty simple to clear up! Bonus!

These kits cost £8.99 so they make a great present for any child really. It doesn't require any drawing ability so even a 3 year old can produce a nice looking picture. The children loved it so much that they want to do more, which speaks for itself. The children were happy and I was happy too. No mess messy crafts. That's what I like!

(We were sent two sand art kits to review and I have received no other compensation. I was not told what to write and all opinions, words and pictures are my own). 

Toyologist (Guest) Review: Keter Handz-on

This review is another guest post by Keris, whose website is here. Keris writes in various places across the internet and has just had her second book published. You can read all about her and her blog by visiting her website. Keris was sent the Keter Handz-on to try out and here she reports back on how she and her son Joe got on with it.

The arrival of the Keter Handz-on Creativity Desk was greeted by 2-year-old Joe hopping up and down next to me, yelling, "Open! Open!" While I went to get scissors, he actually started ripping open the box with his bare hands.

I emptied the pieces out of the box and looked at the assembly instructions, but they really weren't needed - it was pretty straightforward. It all just clicks and slots together and I had the whole thing built in, I'd guess, less than a minute.

And as soon as I had, Joe sat down and yelled for paper. And he hasn't stopped playing with it - and yelling his demands - since. And this is not a child who sits still easily or, generally, willingly.

Toyologist Review - Badge It! Badge Maker

Missy Woo is a creative little soul. You can forever find her drawing something or trying to make something. Whenever we get given some kind of craft item, she wants to do it straight away. The problem is that most things either take longer than her attention span, and on top of that, it makes a mess. Now, I am not the perfect housewife; our house is not the tidiest but it's lived in and livable. But children's craft things seem to be made to create mess, and I get landed with the clearing up. And not just mess, paint on clothes, glue on tables (even if covered), crayon on walls, pen on children. Arrrrgh.

So, when we were sent Badge It! Badge Maker to try, I was a teeny bit reticent about having a go, expecting it to be a) a lengthy process and b) a bit messy. I saved it for an afternoon after school and decided to take the plunge with the children.