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Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

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Original poster

Paint on clothes!

40 replies

clairejnelly89 · 02/03/2022 11:41

Hi all I wanted to ask other mums for advice. My little girl goes to nursery 4 days a week, I always dress her in nice clothes but they are not expensive (mainly from morrisons, sainsburys etc)

Lately she's been coming home with paint on her clothes. I don't mind if it washes out. Just like i don't mind if she gets covered in mud or accidentally gets food all over her, but the nursery she is at purposefully don't wear aprons to promote "messy play".

Which means they never wear aprons to try to keep clean. She came home yesterday and her coat was covered in paint and after washing, it won't come out of the sleeves.

Am I being too particular? Would this bother other parents?

OP posts:

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PenOrPencil · 02/03/2022 11:47

I am all for messy play and getting muddy or paint on clothes comes with the territory, but you can totally promote messy play and wear aprons, you don’t have to get clothes dirty on purpose.

Freshprincess · 02/03/2022 11:49

I was a bit precious about this at first. I bought lovely clothes and was annoyed when they got ruined. But I think you have to let it go.
You’re fighting a losing battle, it’s better that she gets to paint and get a bit mucky than sit quietly not doing it, but keeping her clothes nice.

Only send her in stuff that you don’t mind getting dirty. And if something gets stained, just use it for nursery.

Russell19 · 02/03/2022 11:52

I'm not bothered about this at all. I send my dc to nursery in clothes that I expect to get ruined. They never have though 🤣

Caspianberg · 02/03/2022 11:55

That would annoy me.
I also don’t mind mess on clothes. But purposely not even attempting to give apron to child to paint with is crazy.

Also coats, mine only has 1 coat. He has fleeces etc I can use in emergency instead, but I’m not buying multiple coats for an under 2 who grows regularly. So I wouldn’t want paint on a coat regularly unless I could just wipe off small bit that accidentally got there

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 02/03/2022 11:55

We used to have some cheap leggings and t-shirt for nursery for this reason... and I reused them despite the paint and pen stains.

This is why I like school uniforms... I always made sure they were clean but did not worry about the pen marks. Weekend clothes I'm more particular.

Future tip... rinse in cold water. Hot water can set stains.

BabyTurtIe · 02/03/2022 11:56

I have this at my kids school they let them paint but the paint doesn’t even wash out, jumpers ruined because the paint won’t come out

unvillage · 02/03/2022 18:08

Some kids are incredibly put off by wearing aprons (or puddle suits or anything similar). As in will absolutely never do a crafty activity because of having to wear one (never go outside in the rain because of having to wear one, etc). I love the idea of no aprons!

MichaelAndEagle · 02/03/2022 18:12

I would be annoyed about the coat tbh. Generally you buy one a year, you don't want it ruined!

SpacePotato · 02/03/2022 18:18

Stop sending child in nice clothes. Pick up some cheap bits that you don't care about just for nursery days.

CoodleMoodle · 02/03/2022 18:19

Sometimes DS wears an apron at preschool, sometimes he doesn't. DD always used to. I think they're available and the children can choose to wear them or not. I wish they would really but it's not the end of the world.

I expected them to get dirty whilst playing, but I didn't expect the preschool to hang wet paintings directly above the coat rack. DD came home many times with paint that had dripped all over her bag and coat, and she hadn't done any painting.

It's the only thing that ever annoyed me about our preschool, so I think we've done quite well! They've stopped hanging them there now, so I guess people mentioned it.

Tumbleweed101 · 02/03/2022 20:23

Some children refuse to engage in craft or messy play if made to wear an apron. We will always encourage it but know the ones who won't do the activity if made to wear one. The educational value outweighs dirty clothes. Always send in clothes that can get messy and send them back to nursery in things that have got stained. Many children tend to come in with the same clothes each week for this reason. We make a special effort to keep them clean on photo days etc though!

YisforWanky · 02/03/2022 20:25

Just send her in old clothes? I didn't send mine to nursery, but we did go to playgroups etc and there was always paint around. I just used to put them in old things (DD spent most of her childhood in DS's old clothes) which could get wrecked.

MrsSkylerWhite · 02/03/2022 20:27

Why did she have paint on her coat?

Duracellbunnywannabe · 02/03/2022 20:28

@MrsSkylerWhite

Why did she have paint on her coat?

I would assume painting outside.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 02/03/2022 20:31

The time my DD came home messiest was the day she managed to SIT and fall in the paint. It was all up the back of her clothes, in her hair, on her shoes and socks. The manager came to apologise to me as it had been an accident. I just laughed... although her had a green tinge for a few days.

Even with the best will in the world, they can't stop every stain.

plantastic · 02/03/2022 20:31

Can you get a charity shop coat for nursery? That's what we did. It does break the 'flow' of play a lot to keep suiting kids up for stuff.

I'd be happy with it and just send them in stuff that is already stained etc. Nice stuff saved for best.

Tibtab · 02/03/2022 20:34

I buy a bunch of charity shop clothes for nursery, even though the paint is supposed to be washable I’ve found that some colours stain. The same goes for food stains, whatever they put in their tomato sauce is a nightmare to wash out.

nearlyspringyay · 02/03/2022 20:38

Mine had a 'uniform' for nursery. A five pack of leggings and long sleeve tops and five pack of shorts and T-shirt for the summer from Sainsbury's. If they got pain on so be it, they were washed and clean just stained.

Same once they started in YR, I wasn't going to replace a shirt every time they got pen on a cuff or somewhere.

Hollyhead · 02/03/2022 20:40

Mine just wore 2nd hand stained clothes for nursery, I never understand peoples reluctance to keep stained clothes in circulation for nursery/park etc. I had a friend that immediately threw stained clothes away!

MotherOfCrocodiles · 02/03/2022 20:40

my DS got non washable paint on his coat at nursery. I'm annoyed tbh. Washable paint fine. Non washable paint shouldn't be in nursery.

Also wouldn't be so annoyed if it was on a T-shirt, but a coat is expensive and he, and his younger sister, will just have to wear it with paint on for some years to come!

DS goes to nursery 5 days a week and they are outdoors a lot so I bought him a decent coat. I'm not having him in a cheap coat all day feeling cold. I'd rather it didn't have red paint on it.

What really took the biscuit though was non washable paint on his favourite cuddly toy, which he is only allowed at nap time or when crying. Arrrrgh.

MotherOfCrocodiles · 02/03/2022 20:43

All those saying use cheap clothes - it's his coat though. You want a warm one and no, you don't want it stained.

busyeatingbiscuits · 02/03/2022 20:46

@MotherOfCrocodiles

All those saying use cheap clothes - it's his coat though. You want a warm one and no, you don't want it stained.

Buy a warm one from a charity shop or ebay for under a fiver then. Or ask among friends or on facebook if anyone has a coat they want to get rid of.

SirenSays · 02/03/2022 20:49

It's strange the coat has paint on it as they are usually kept away from messy activities or they have been in all nurseries I've worked in anyway. Second hand stained clothes are beloved by nursery workers.
We had one mum who would send her twins in designer clothes

MrsSkylerWhite · 02/03/2022 20:54

Duracellbunnywannabe

MrsSkylerWhite
Why did she have paint on her coat?

“I would assume painting outside.”

Painting is a winter, outdoor activity?
Blimey, times have changed.

BigPurpleEgg · 02/03/2022 20:56

It would annoy me on a coat tbh, although I do have a charity shop coat for nursery, I feel like it looks a bit shit walking to nursery in a stained coat. But clothes, just send them in old ones. I find it so weird when people dress their kids up for nursery - just why???

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