The best fun is usually messy fun, so I’ve been trying to lighten up about things I should be used to by now (like crayon on the walls and glue on the table cloth). I keep a stash of wipes at hand in every room and purse, and this goes a long way to making me more of a laid back, cool mom who can have fun with her boys, instead of fussing at every spill.
My son had to make an animal diorama for a school project recently, and it required the use of glue and mod podge. I don’t mind either, if they werent’ so messy, but they are, so I found myself cringing with anticipation. He is fascinated with pigs (all those great pig cartoons and movies help) so we planned out and created the perfect abode for a pig.
Hey, I try.
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Pig Dioramas + Other School Projects
We used a medley of construction paper, mod podge, pipe cleaner, etc for his school projects, and sometimes get creative (he stapled a sun on top, because he felt that the sun should be shining on his pig). Here are the supplies we used to create our Barnyard Diorama (you can make one too with these easy steps, or get creative by using these as a starting point):
1. Shoebox (lid is placed underneath to extend out as a barnyard).
2. Exacto knife to shape box and create a functioning barn door.
3. Construction paper to cover shoe-box (red for barn, white for background, and brown for ground).
4. Popsicle sticks cut in half and glued together for fence, and white pipe cleaner for trim.
5. Shredded brown grocery bag paper for hay (artistic recycling).
6. Washable kids glue to stick it all together, and modge podge to seal it.
7. Wipes for clean up.
(as of the taking of these pictures, they already pulled the popsicle stick fence off).
My sons outgrew their diapers, but I don’t know if they’ll ever outgrow the mess, so now I just Hug The Mess. That isn’t a metaphor for my boys, though I do hug them plenty too. In general, though, I try to just let it go, and don’t stress about glue spills or paint on hands and faces. I just have fun and keep wipes with me all the time (even for my own clean-up) and make life a little less messy and stress-free.
