With many working from home with young children to entertain, households are sure to get messy. New pictures from households across the country show how much havoc little ones can cause when left unattended for even a moment.
Sofa and carpet specialist, ScS, has undergone a nationwide search for the messiest little monsters and their trail of adorable destruction, while asking parents and experts to share tips on keeping them entertained.
Parents across the nation were asked to send in photographic evidence of their children wreaking havoc on their homes, with the best entries revealed below.
This little girl was crowned the queen of mess, after not only completely ruining her mother’s sofa with an artistic display of nappy cream but doing so with a devilish stare.
1. Emilia from West Sussex
Lois Herbert, Emilia’s mother, comments: “Oh my goodness this is amazing! We can laugh about the incident now but at the time I wasn’t too pleased. I was upstairs bathing her baby sister at the time.
“Of course, it feels amazing to win and definitely cheered us up in this crazy and anxious time we are all facing. We will be able to enjoy family movie time on our new sofa while we all stay safe together, thank you so much!“
After being crowned the winner of the competition, Emilia has won a new, durable sofa worth £699, which will hopefully remain free from nappy cream stains.
2. Nappy cream take two
This little boy was a tad too quiet, only for his mum to become suspicious, but it was too late as the tub of nappy cream was already covering the room.
3. Carpet chaos
This poor parent of two-year-old Raymond took a quick trip to the toilet, only to come back and discover their gorgeous carpet was no more – although the big grin suggests that someone is not sorry.
4. Look, I’ve done a glass painting
The mum of five-year-old Jack got rather a big shock when she discovered the masses of paint spilt outside and smeared across the glass door.
5. It’s only flour…
As well as creating mess with creams and paints, there is much to be made when small hands find their way into the food cupboards like four-year-old Blaine, and two-year-old Millie, who managed to create a floor of flour.
6. Mum, what are these?
Iris, age three, was happily sat on the loo singing Row Your Boat whilst casually sticking panty liners to the walls. It looks like she’s so proud of her work too.
7. Cereal spiller
One-year-old Evelyn from Liverpool was feeling a bit peckish, so helped herself to cereal.
8. Mum, I’m an artiste!
When four-year-old Esha told her parents about their plans for an afternoon of drawing, they hadn’t realised it meant on the window.
9. Can I do your makeup?
This adorable terror found his mummy’s makeup and ended up crawling it all around the house.
10. Modern day Picasso
It seems three-year-old Jacob thought using his whole body was a much better idea than a paintbrush.
Parenting blogger and author, Lucy Rycroft, gives her advice to limit children’s mess whilst indoors: “Use screen time wisely and create a schedule to divide the day into short blocks. Fully invest in your kids for some of these blocks, especially early on in the day, as then they are more likely to self-direct once they have had some attention.”
“If you are working, have designated times in the day when you are going to work and stick to them. Make sure your kids and your colleagues know when this is happening and if possible this should be at the same times each day. Schedule what you need to do in each work slot to maximise productivity and review each evening for the next day.”
Dale Gillespie, Head of Acquisition at ScS, said: “These hilarious pictures show how much mess innocent children can make in such a short space of time, with some even ruining expensive furniture in the time it takes for a short trip to the loo! We’re thrilled to be able to provide our winner, Emilia and her family a new sofa, and hope these insightful tips will help save some furniture!”
To see even more of the entries, please visit: https://www.scs.co.uk/lifestyle/messy-toddlers