I rethougth some of my meals and that helped a lot. I found things like rice was getting everywhere and a real hassle to pick up so now it is buttered noodles instead even if it means noodles two days in a row - rice and noodles are the same food group but noodles are so much easier to pick up.

All of my kids - even the 3-4 year olds wear bibs with the pocket in the front to catch crumbs and that saves a bit of floor mess.

All of my kids - even the 3 -4 year olds use a sippy cup while with me. Adults drink from sippy bottles all the time so why not kids - there is no reason it has to be an open glass at daycare as there were too many spills. A rubbermaid sippy bottle for the older ones works very well and looks more grown up than the baby ones and saves on messes.

Mess is pretty much confined to the table area so the rest of the kitchen comes out not too badly. Luckily my kitchen is designed that the walk way through it stays relatively clean.