Creative Chaos

No matter what we're making, never does an event go by without hearing at least one parent say "we love coming here... it's great not to have to tidy up afterwards!". This usually provokes a grin-and-bear-it sort of expression from my volunteers, who know very well that clearing up the mess the children are making will be how they're spending their first hour after all the visitors have gone home, and who can blame them? They're very good at not moaning to the visitors about it though; I've impressed upon them the importance of providing this mess-making facility to families.

If the comments of our visitors are anything to go by, then children are no longer allowed to make things, paint, or construct rocket ships out of old boxes and fairy liquid bottles at home these days. I'm sure that's not the case everywhere, but it certainly seems to be a large proportion of the population who have banned this creative chaos from their houses.

And that's exactly why I tell my volunteers that it's so important that they put up with tidying up after finger painting, or fabric dyeing, or junk modelling. These creative experiences are important in a child's development, and if parents can't or won't make room for them in their home lives, it's even more vital that we as museums and other family-activity-providing institutions make room for them in our programmes. For a start, we've probably got more space for children to make a mess in, and staff to clear it up, but it doesn't end there. Craft is often so much more creative when it's collaborative; there's something very heartwarming about seeing two families working together to build a castle out of old boxes, tubes and scraps of paper and fabric.

I'd like to think that sometimes we manage to show a parent that it's not as scary as all that; the idea of children with hands in paint sounds terrifying, but many kids are actually very particular about not getting paint down their new dress, thank you very much, especially as they get a bit older. For every child that up-ends the paint pot over their paper (and the table, and the staff) there is another who makes a beautiful picture, has a lovely time and assures their parents that they can do it without re-decorating the walls.

So the next time you're wondering whether the PVA glue and sand and poster paints were really a good idea as you're scraping them up off the floor, think how much good you've done for all the children who had a go, and whose parents might let them try again at home. It makes the scrubbing a little more worth it.