Messy Play for Holidays

We've been so lucky with the weather over the last few weeks and those of us who've been off for Easter for a wee while already have been making the most of it. This week, however, the weather looks like the sun's having a little rest so we've been getting a bit arty (well, as arty as you can get aged 2).

Mothercare's mini artist kit has become a firm favourite in our house as it has everything you need in one box, from modelling dough to paint, crayons to chalks. There's plenty inside so you'll easily keep several children entertained at once. It's on offer at the moment so is even more of a bargain at £20.
The rubbing plate (similar to tree rubbings) was pretty popular and easy to do, even for little ones.
So we can tidy away and store everything easily, we keep all our craft bits in two wooden storage caddies. They have chalkboards on the front so, when our youngest is a litre bit older, we'll have their names on the front of each so they can start to take responsibility for their own.

The main attraction for any toddler, of course, are the paint bits and I just let Charlie explore. He loved the paint stamps and the non-spill paint pots meant he could get on without any help from me. In order to ensure he didn't paint himself, we use Babybjörn eat and play smocks which are really long but fasten twice at the back to avoid them getting in the way.

I love the pastel chalks so, once we had washed up the paints, they came out. They're really soft so are great for toddlers as they don't need to press hard to draw what they want, but are also durable enough that they won't snap (ours have been put through their paces and are still all in one piece).

One of my favourite things about this kit is the fact that, because it contains everything (apart from paper) for all sorts of different creative activities, you can choose which suits the time/space you have. The chalks, crayons and modelling dough are great for entertaining our toddler at the kitchen table while I'm cooking while our youngest enjoys applauding from the sidelines (and some supervised crayon time to avoid any chewing)!