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Planning for Mess<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It goes without saying that folks will get dirty at an event all about celebrating mess. Be clear in your event details that families should plan to wear clothes they’re comfortable getting dirty and wet, and perhaps even bring a change of clothes. I’ll also include a line about bringing wet wipes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A spot to wash up is essential! Whether it be proximity to a bathroom or hand-washing stations, families will need a spot to rinse off. Be mindful of your plumbing and check bathroom sinks after the event. Save some time for picking globs of slime out of drain catches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clean up is much easier when you take steps to mitigate mess the whole way through. By testing materials, setting out tarps, doing projects over drip catch bins, and avoiding certain activities, you will thank yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To keep mess contained, it is essential to staff your messiest stations. The first year I ran a messtival, I had many activities without a volunteer, and I was frantically on the move to keep them tidy. To help bring down costs and staffing needs, I reached out to other libraries in the area to see if they’d be interested in co-presenting the event. Two neighboring libraries agreed to join the fun, and we moved the event to a centrally located park. With three libraries on board, high-budget items like a foam dance party are easily on the table. Even with each library only able to spare a few staff members, we’re able to staff multiple messy activities throughout the event. As a city library, I’m also able to seek staff from other departments to support the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Activities that Hit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Foam Party – This is the tent pole event! If you can spring for a foam dance party. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Foam companies come ready to blast foam into an eager crowd. Kids love dancing around in the resulting sudsy fun. This does require access to a water hookup. Foam will dry in the sun and be gone within the hour. Clean up: Easy. Cost: High.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tie-Dye – When done over baking drying racks resting on top of bins, this usually chaotic craft can be contained. Make sure to prep zip lock bags with directions for finishing rinsing and washing at home. Clean up: Medium. Cost: Medium.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Slime – Slime is still a sensation for a reason! Premix large batches and allow kids to add color or mix-ins; this will save you from hands covered in not-quite-properly mixed slime. Cleanup: High. Cost: Low.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Big Bubbles – Big bubbles are magical, and it is easy to set out bins with pre-mixed big bubble solution. If the weather is on your side, you can rig up a hula-hoop for kids to stand inside a bubble. Be advised that the bubble area will get very slippery, very quickly. Bubble stations lend themselves to additional crafts like bubble painting and more. Clean up: High, Cost: Low<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sensory Bins – We cleared out the local discount store’s collection of kiddie pools and set up a variety of giant sensory bins. This became a great space for quieter play and for entertaining our littlest attendees. Dirt, water, and birdseed make for great heavy filler that can spill out of bins without wrecking grass or blowing away. Set bins a good distance apart to keep from cross-contaminating bins. Clean up: Easy, Cost: Low.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Anything with shaving Cream – I love the stuff and shaving cream marbling is a favorite craft of mine, but it simply gets too messy and a muddy in color too quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anything that needs to air dry – It’s okay to have one craft that needs a moment to dry, but no caregiver wants to be stuck with multiple wet papers to wrangle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Communal painting projects – You’ll need to swap out your canvas too often, colors get mixed together and muddy too quickly, and the mess is harder to contain. Opt for stamps instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sensory bins – Not all sensory fillers are going to work outside. Take it from someone who spent a good portion of last year’s event picking confetti out of the grass after a big gust of wind. Stick to heavy filler that won’t blow away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still nervous about hosting your own Messtival? Don’t be afraid to start small with a few activities to see what your community responds to. Our Messtival is a program that has grown and expanded every year. You may find local events, like a Color Run, that would be a natural fit for a messy tie-in. Messy play invites creativity for little library users and for you. Get your hands dirty!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eleanor Howell-Shryock <\/strong>(she\/they) is the Head Children\u2019s Librarian, managing family and outreach services at Burlington Public Library in Burlington, Washington. They are the Chair Emeritus of the Washington Library Association\u2019s Children and Young Adult Services Section. They are excited to highlight some of the unique challenges and opportunities of working in small and rural libraries for the ALSC blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a certified process art fanatic, I’m always coming across ideas that are a little too messy for out carpeted meeting room. When summer rolls around, I delight in moving outdoors, where I can splash and splatter more freely.\u00a0Messy play is sensory play, making it great for a wide age range. To save on cleanup time, I roll all the messy fun into one action-packed celebration \u2014 a Messtival! Today, I’m sharing three years’ worth of trial and error, finding activities that are engaging, messy, and still easy to clean up after.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[3133,1607],"tags":[552,3290,2304],"class_list":["post-36200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogger-eleanor-howell-shryock","category-programming-skills","tag-library-programming","tag-messtival","tag-process-art"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36200\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Activities that Miss<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Embrace the Mess<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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