Thanks to Bounty for sponsoring this post! It was a lot of fun to partner with a brand we love in our house!
My little ones are all over the place these days. At 3.5 (x 2) and 7.5, their attention spans are short and easily excited. They switch from activity to activity a hundred times a day (staying on each one for ten minutes at a time… which means major messes OFTEN). But, as I learn to embrace grace, not perfection as a mama, I’ve become more comfortable with the constant mess that comes with real creative play.
When Bounty reached out to me and asked if I’d share a few of my favorite Spring Cleaning tactics (and how we use Bounty in our house), I immediately thought of the obvious tasks I use Bounty Quick-Size Paper Towels for wiping down surfaces, but also thought about keeping these little guys entertained while I got this housework done! :) Whenever it’s time to dig into wiping down the pantry shelves (I do not understand WHY it gets so dirty in there) or finally cleaning the high windows we have (break out the ladder!), I pull out our arsenal of fun crafts and easy, inexpensive activities to grab their attention and let them get messy.
Here are my four favorite go-to, slightly messy activities:
- Paint masterpieces. Inevitably someone tries to paint a flower and ends up with cat whiskers on their face. Don’t ask me why. These guys are wild and so much fun. Because of my job, I have loads of paper samples lying around. We grab a few sheets and start creating our masterpieces.
- Craft creatures with playdough. Who doesn’t love playdough. My kids will literally play with it for hours on end. The mess it makes is disastrous, but the fun they have is worth every minute I spend wiping dried playdough crumbs off the floor. I just store the playdough in baggies and keep everything in one giant plastic bin for easy clean-up.
- Create bead bracelets. I have very vivid memories of making bead bracelets as a kid. Mine love the big beads (great for little fingers) and pipe cleaners. They sport them the rest of the day!
- Build a “snack dinner.”Everyone can help with this one (and at the end; dinner is served)! Mama cuts veggies. Kiddos wash and peel fruit. They love arranging cheeses, nuts, or whatever we have in the fridge (great for those days when you haven’t had time to get to the store) on a few big cutting boards.
What I’ve realized over the last few years is that fun play (even when you’re stuck inside) is better when it’s messy. When my kids aren’t afraid to make a mess, they dig in, focus more on being creative, and let their imaginations run wild. As soon as they’re finished, they get some quiet time and I get to cleaning up (and celebrating my Spring Cleaning victory!). Here’s my trick (we do most of this around our kitchen island): move the barstools out of the way, wipe everything onto the floor with a paper towel and sweep it up. Then wipe down the counters. Easy peasy!
Stock up for spring with the New Bounty Quick-Size Paper Towel rolls available on Amazon. (They have about 80 more sheets than the regular Select-A-Size rolls and last so much longer!) Bounty is offering a $5 savings on a Family 16ct Pack with code 5QUICKBOUNTY (and you can save an additional $2 on the product page as well)!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bounty. The opinions and text are all mine.