Kids love to wear aprons or one of grandma and grandpa's old shirts, (it's kind of like playing dress up), and keeps mom and dad happy....no paint or glue on their clothes!! Another option is to buy some old clothes from the thrift store; they can wear these while crafting...and everyone loves being allowed to do the unexpected so consider letting them paint these old clothes... and yeah...while wearing them...how fun is that!!!
The grandkids do like to get dirty, but they also think wearing gloves is the best....so try to keep a big box of disposable gloves from the drugstore in your crafting stash.
Another great thing to have in your stash is an old hairdryer...I don't know why exactly but my grandkids absolutely love drying their projects with a hair dryer. I guess it's the immediate gratification thing coupled with using a power appliance!!
Try not to teach perfectionism.....when Lyndsey painted her paintbrush character I had to hold myself back from saying...uhhh...don't you want to paint the eyes and the face to look more like a real person.
She is perfectly happy with her character this way...and that's cool, cause sometimes kids feel blocked in their creativity just as we do, or are afraid of making a mistake. They may ask you to do it for them....it's tempting, but I think it is better not to ....it is what it is.
If you make a habit of applauding them for their efforts rather than their natural abilitities you have a chance of helping them get rid of the little voice inside their heads that says this isn't good enough. I know this voice well!!
Try to always approach your time with the rowdies with a sense of play, kids love music amd movement, so put some silly songs on while they craft their masterpieces.
A great book which is full of silly projects is The Encyclopedia of Immaturity by Klutz. I found some old tricks in this book that reminded me of my childhood, many of them have been around for ages.....but in my maturity I had forgotten about them.
