08 Sep 2022Mont Marte

Creating with your little artist doesn’t have to end in paint on the new couch or markers drawn all over the white walls. Check out these mess free kid’s projects to keep them creating all day, without the stress and worry of having to repaint the whole house the next day.


1. Toilet paper roll ducks

1 Two toilet paper roll ducks stamped onto paper
Image: sprinkleinlearning

How cute are these little ducks?! Have some fun and use your left-over toilet paper rolls to stamp some fluffy ducklings. All you need is some toilet paper or paper towel rolls, some coloured paint and some paper! Use A3 butchers paper to cover your area for mess free painting, then have some fun stamping these little ducks!

2. Painting in bags

Hand sealing colourful marble paint into zip lock bags.
Image: raisingtherogershomestead

This is a fun mess free painting activity for kids. Grab a piece of cardboard – this will be your canvas, then place it inside a zip lock bag, before adding in a few squeezes of poster paints into the bag, together with everything else. Seal the bag to make sure it’s secure (this is an important step to keep it mess free!) Then let your little ones have some fun squeezing the paint inside to create new colours. Once they’re done, you’ll have a nice little artwork inside!

3. Baking paper fun

Image: theslpnextdoor
Image: theslpnextdoor

Next time your little artist wants to create, try baking paper or sheets of print paper! Simply line an old tray with some paper and let them craft the day away! Think stamps, stickers, buttons and glue and let them create a little collage. Best of all, this little work space is easy to clean and everything will be contained in the one place!

4. Paper flowers

Four brightly coloured paper flowers made from strips of paper.
Image: essentially.uplifting

Make spring last all year round with this fun mess free kid’s project idea. Grab some coloured paper, scissors, tape and a straw and cut a yellow circle for the centre. Cut different widths and lengths of paper for the flower petals, and fold each strip in half, then glue it to the yellow circle in the centre. Finish your bloom by attaching a straw with some tape!

5. Egg carton boats

An egg carton made into a boat with yellow and blue flag.


Image: messymommacrafts

Another mess free craft project to create with the kids is this fun recycled egg carton boat! You don’t need a lot to make this, and best of all, kids can play with their finished project too. All you need are some scissors, a single hole punch, an egg carton, some card stock and a piece of wooden dowel (a skewer or a stick could work though too). Click here for the instructions.

6. Fabric paints

Bright coloured insect drawings drawn on to a canvas bag.
Image: hippiehooray

Let them scribble, draw and decorate on some fabric using fabric pens and paint – this will also keep the little ones away from wanting to decorate their own clothes and the couch! Whether they decorate on a tote bag like this idea or scribble all over a sheet of fabric, let them play and experiment to their hearts content using some fabric paints with this mess free kids project to try. Check out our fabric paint sticks here.

7. Cupcake paper crabs

Bright orange crabs made from cupcake papers glued on to blue paper.
Image: artsandchristinacrafts

How cute are these? They’re also super easy to make and a great option for some no mess creating! Grab a cupcake paper and fold it in half, then glue it onto a piece of card. Then, cut out two small hearts for arms and glue them on for little claws. Draw on the legs, arms and eyes or use some little googly eyes. We love this idea, and like how they’ve even used some textured cardboard for the sand. The choice is yours, so have some fun with it and enjoy creating.

8. Air dry clay pencil holder

Blue metallic pencil holder with coloured pencils and hand colouring in.
This is not just a fun mess free project for the kids but it’ll also keep desks tidy well after creating. We created this fun DIY clay pencil holder project using air dry clay. You don’t need a lot to create this either, just some clay, a large paintbrush, a ruler, a cup of water and some paint (we used black and metallic paint but you can use any acrylic colour you like). Follow along with our lesson here.

9. Watercolours with crepe paper

Pieces of crepe paper in a glass next to a pastel marble paper.
Image: leikkileikkina

Create watercolour-like effects without watercolour paints and use squares of cut up crepe paper or tissue paper instead. This is a fun mess free kid’s project that the kiddos can create on a rainy day with some coloured tissue or crepe paper, some water on a paint brush and some paper! First wet or glue the paper so the crepe and tissue have something sticky to hold onto, then rip up small squares of different coloured paper and place them in a nice arrangement on paper. Dab water with a brush over the top in two layers, then leave overnight to dry.

10. Paper cup octopus

Five coloured octopus made from paper cups with googly eyes.
Image: kidsrusoutofschoolclubs

This project is great for when you’re looking for a fun day out in the sun, but the weather has other plans. If you’re missing the beach, then why not try making these paper cup sea creatures? Grab some paper cups (like a takeaway coffee cup, paper cups work best because plastic ones have sharp edges), some scissors, paint and markers, craft glue and some googly eyes and make your own little sea creatures.

11. Paper plate apples

Three apples made from paper plates and handprints with green and red paint
Image: playdogrow

Use up those extra paper plates from parties with this fun, mess free kid’s project. Grab some left-over red paint and paint the plate, while it’s drying your little artist can get their hands dirty and print their hands on a sheet of paper with green paint. After hand washing, leave these to dry, then cut around the hand shapes and glue them onto the paper plate. Add a square of cardboard for a stalk, pop on some googly eyes, a smile and you’re done!

We hope that you feel inspired to create with these mess free kids’ projects. Try them for yourself and #montmarteart or tag us @montmarteart on Instagram or Facebook, we’d love to see what you create. You can also check out more of our kids range here.