Looking for stuff to do with my 6yo on rainy weekends that won't require me to buy expensive supplies or result in marker all over the walls. We've done the usual paint, markers, construction paper thing a million times. Open to messier projects too if they're contained. Any recommendations?
Cardboard boxes. I'm not joking. One Amazon box, some tape, markers, and your 6yo will build a castle or spaceship or whatever for days. They're free and apparently more fun than actual toys.
Those ink pad stamp kits are clutch. Get like a set of animal stamps, some washable ink pad, and white paper. 6yos will stamp for hours. Pretty contained, washes right out if it gets on anything, and way cheaper than craft kits at Target that you use once.
have you tried the dry erase board + markers route? I taped one to our wall at kid height and now instead of drawing on actual walls, my son just goes crazy on the board. Game changer for the marker problem you mentioned
Salt dough ornaments/shapes. Flour, salt, water. costs basically nothing, they can mold it, decorate with markers, bake it. My 6yo loved this because she could actually CREATE something that lasted. Not just a one-off mess.
collage is your friend here - magazines, old junk mail, newspaper. grab scissors, glue stick, and some cardstock. takes like 10 mins to set up, keeps them busy for an hour, zero mess if you put down newspaper. we do this on our kitchen table all the time
Window markers are legitimately great for this age. Washable, they work on windows/glass doors, and there's something about drawing on windows that feels 'naughty' enough to be exciting but it literally washes off. We do this weekly.
Collage with junk mail and magazines you were gonna toss anyway. Super cheap, way less mess than markers, and 6yos love the cutting and pasting. Give them a big piece of poster board and go to town.
Salt dough ornaments. Flour, salt, water. Costs like $2 total. They shape it, you bake it, they paint it. Keeps them busy for hours across different days and actually feels productive (not just mess for mess sake).
The marker-on-walls thing - have you tried washable paint on a big sheet of butcher paper taped to the wall? Gives the wall-painting vibe without actually destroying your walls. Dollar Tree has it.
What about playdough? Homemade is super cheap and you can make it in 15 min. Then just let them build stuff. Better than screen time and less destructive than markers everywhere.
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Rock painting. Seriously. Grab rocks from outside, use dollar store acrylic paint. 6yo will do this for an hour easily and it's actually cute. No mess really, just paint on rocks.