Ok, I am not the fun crafting mom. But I have kids and I want them to be creative and have a fun life but with as little mess and chaos as possible!!!

And if it is the holidays and you are having kids visit you need to have a plan! Kids love to craft and it will keep them happy! When they are done they will even admire their own creation for a while. To this end I have a few tips, just in case you feel like me;).

Tips to Successful Crafting with Kids:
-#1 Tip: Plastic place mats!!!! I don’t care if you have the kids working on a plastic table cloth or outside, always use a plastic place mat. Why? There is some basic convienience to start with. If they beads or some little thing they can just pick up the place mat and dump it into a bowl. But if things get messier, say glue or paint, do you want to have to scrub a table cloth or just put a place mat into the sink and rinse it off? Exactly, place mat it is!!!

-Gather supplies together before you start. Nothing is worse than 2 minutes in the kids calling you saying how they need more stuff. Except not knowing where it is at and everyone waiting as you dig around looking for it.

-Prep the kids! Take a second before the crafting starts to evaluate if the kids should change their clothes, roll up their sleeves, pull the hair back or don an apron. It takes 2 seconds but can save hours of trying to get glue out hair or marker off of shirt cuffs.

-Stay close! I know the goal is to get them fairly independent but that doesn’t mean you are off the hook. Stay close to answer questions, give direction or bail them out of a messy situation before they get glue on the carpet!

There are key things to have on hand. This is a great refresher for those who are just having kids visit and need to shop.:
White Glue
Kids Scissors
Pipe Cleaners
Fuzzy Balls
Craft Sticks
Construction Paper
Magnets
Colored Pens
Cheap paper plates (for organizing and cutting up)