Messy play….no way! Why do I want to encourage my child to make a huge mess that will take hours to clean up??
Well, the tactile experience gained during messy play helps little ones experience a variety of textures. During messy play, babies and toddlers are developing hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills and much more! What looks like a mess on the surface is truly a learning experience for any child.
Messy Play makes an enormous contribution to young children’s cognitive and creative development. To mess about is to play with something and it is through play – which is part of the creative process – that children learn and develop. This sort of play is important because its lack of a focus on making or producing something leaves a child free to explore all sorts of possibilities.
Messy play develops the fine motor skills needed for writing, for example, hand-eye coordination. Even spilt yogurt in a highchair provides opportunities for early mark making – so instead of grabbing the cloth, let them explore and make patterns.
It allows you and your child to respond to what is seen, heard, smelt and felt. They notice what adults do and can imitate what is observed. They can explore and respond to different media and sensory experiences. They express and communicate ideas, thoughts and feelings and explore colour, texture, shape, form and space in two or three dimensions.
Exploring the different materials together with your child provides an ideal opportunity to develop language and communication. Open-ended questioning is very important, as are pondering and thinking aloud. For example, ‘I wonder why that happened?’ or ‘I wonder what would happen if I add more water?’ Such comments draw the children’s attention to the possibilities for exploration without putting them under pressure to find a right answer.
Remember, children are active learners. They learn best through using all their senses and by pulling all that information together. Most importantly, children are children and they are only young once.
There are many materials which you can use for Messy Play – some of which are included in our Messy Play pack. We have also included some recipes which you and your little ones can make together.
Finally, dress for mess …. old clothes are a must or even no clothes!
If you prefer, set up the activities outdoors so the children can really explore and get messy without giving you a ‘stress attack’ about messy floors and cleaning up! When you head back inside, clothes can be stripped off and thrown in the machine and colourful hands, feet, faces and generally the whole body are easily cleaned at the end of the activity.
Have we convinced you to get messy with your little ones yet?
Have a gander at our ‘Fine Mess’ board on Pinterest to get started!