Keeping children entertained all day, every day is a near impossible task for even the most creative parent. Trips to the park are cheap, but can often grow boring if done too often. Day trips are always fun, but can end up being quite costly depending on the activity. Thankfully, alternative forms of entertainment are easy to come by and the materials can often be found in your own home.
We all know how quickly a child’s tastes change, and this applies to clothing just as much as anything else. However instead of throwing out any old t-shirts that your kids start to get bored of, why not use them as a canvas for them to make their own handcrafted personalized t-shirts that they do want to wear? Realistically, all you need here is a few old t-shirts, some pens or a paint set and an old bedsheet of sorts (we’ll get to that later).
I’m sure as children, we all innocently ripped a piece of clothing playing football, or managed to get irremovable stains on your t-shirt from playing outside or eating too fast. I know I used to try and keep it as a secret from my parents for as long as I possibly could! Allowing the children the freedom to do whatever they feel to a piece of clothing without you caring should certainly appeal to them!
There are, obviously, certain hiccups that you may need to work around. For example, many people have existing commitments with unused pieces of clothing and may give it away to charity. The majority of discount clothing stores will sell bulk packs of plain t-shirts at a minimal cost, so there shouldn’t be a problem there. Also, not every house will have the art materials available to hand, but again fabric markers are readily available in most craft stores and shouldn’t set you back more than a few dollars.
The majority of people however, will prefer to use paint as this really does make the most attractive t-shirts. This offers more flexibility and when coupled with the use of stencils, can make an attractive printed t-shirt for even the least creative child.
This is where the bedsheet comes in handy (I told you I was going somewhere with that…) as we all know just how messy children can be with paint. The last thing you want to be doing at the end of the day is getting on your hands and knees scrubbing paint out of the floor, so it’s worth covering carpets and other valuable pieces of furniture to prevent damage. Another tip is to have soap and a bucket of water at the ready, just so the kids can rid their hands of paint as soon as they finish and avoid further risk of paint being splattered around the house.
The final tip is to take a step back, and let the children be as creative as possible! Be enthusiastic and encourage the creativity, but don’t dictate what they do. The result should be a fun day all round and some pretty t-shirts that the children won’t grow bored of any time soon.
