As a mom, you spend so much time fighting messes, sometimes it’s fun and a little freeing to just let go and embrace the mess {read to the end to find out how Quirky Momma is making it EASIER to embrace messes with the help of Seventh Generation}.
Life is messy! Kids are messy!
Our family embraced the mess one day last week when my husband was home during Spring Break.
We called our game Paintman It was kind of like a life-sized version of Hangman, minus the hanging and with lots and lots of paint!
Make a Mess!
We set up the game board on the side of our house (I’m sure the neighbors thought we were crazy) using butcher paper, masking tape, and tempera paint. My husband and I agreed on the first word and taped up that number of blanks. First up was our older daughter who we sent to the “gallows.” She guessed one letter at at time. If she guessed correctly, my husband painted it on the correct paper square. If not, she got a body part painted by her very obliging younger sister.
We did:
- nose
- cheek
- cheek
- chin
- forehead
- neck
- arm
- arm
- hand
- hand
- foot
- foot
“Hmmmm, I wonder what it could be?”
“M? No, it’s not ‘Liom.”
She guessed the word just in time (with only one unpainted foot left).
Next up was little sister who needed a little more help guessing. We sang through the alphabet with her several times to help her remember the names of letters. She thoroughly enjoyed being painted, and I think she was a little disappointed when her word was finally all filled in.
Of course, no game of Paintman would be complete without the opportunity to paint a parent.
My husband picked the word, and man, it was a doozy!
I was thoroughly stumped, and after my last foot was painted and I still hadn’t guessed it, my husband gave the girls permission to charge me with the paint- no holds barred.
We made a memory they’ll remember for a long time.
I Have to Do Laundry!
We had so much fun cleaning up which is the spirit of Seventh Generation. They have teamed up with the Lorax to help fun-loving families effectively do the laundry while conserving the earth’s resources with conscious consumption. Seventh Generation’s Natural 4X Laundry Detergent uses a multiple enzyme system to fight the toughest stains without the synthetic cleaning ingredients. The formula is biodegradable, hypoallergenic, free of optical brighteners, free of synthetic fragrances, non-toxic, designed for high-efficiency machines and is a USDA Certified Biobased Product. Oh, and one bottle cleans 66 loads of laundry…that is a LOT of Paintman! If every US household replaced just one bottle of 100 oz. 2x concentrate petroleum-based laundry liquid with Seventh Generations 50 oz. 4x concentrate plant-derived product, we could save enough oil to heat and cool 15,700 US homes for a year. Seventh Generation also makes a nontoxic and biodegradable Natural Laundry Stain Remover and a cholorine-free oxygen bleach, Natural Oxy Stain Remover and a Natural Fabric Softener. You can find Seventh Generation products in retailers like Target or online where they are now offering free shipping for purchases over $50. As the Lorax says, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” How do YOU live like the Lorax? Tell Seventh Generation below and be entered to win a Green Your Home prize pack {one Quirky Momma reader will win! Winner will be chosen on March 31}. This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Seventh Generation. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.
Welcome to Kids Activities!
My name is Holly Homer & I am the Dallas mom of three boys…
Oh my goodness! I can’t wait to do this. Too bad I have a 2 yr old and a 2 month old. It’s going to be a while!
I love this! I think kids need to get messy. I let my daughter play with sidewalk chalk the other day (she’s 1) and she crawled all in it so her pants and socks were covered in chalk, but she had fun and that’s what counts!
What a lovely idea!
I absolutely love the “Paintman” fun and the whole concept of “embracing the mess”. TOOOOOO FUN!
It made me really really want to play. I can see it even working for teen groups. Hummmmm. Spring break ideas! Youth group idea. And who wouldn’t enjoy painting your sibling and best of all parents. What fun to even miss the letter, so you get to get painted. Great giant size fun. Makes me want to live in your home. Thanks for sharing these wonderful ideas.
That looks like such a fun idea
That looks so very fun! I would love doing that. I can just imagine how a child would love it. Such a good idea to paint parts of the body for each wrong letter guessed!
I love everything about this game. My son is still pretty young, but I’m going to remember this for when he’s a bit older. Thank you so much for the inspiration!
That is such a cute idea. 🙂 I bet your neighbors loved every bit of it? (BTW, what was the word you couldn’t solve?)
It was “yule.” I protested that I thought it was a proper word and shouldn’t be allowed, but we looked it up, and apparently, it can be proper or common. So I lost fair and square. 🙂
And this is what we call a Beautiful Mess! That’s A for effort. It’s like teambuilding in the office but this time you’re working on the family dynamics. Lovely family, great idea for an activity Katie! 🙂