What is messy play?

February 03, 2018

Play dough - my favourite!

Rainbow foam - so
tempting to jump into!

From the sound of it, messy play is every mother’s nightmare yet it is considered a very important part of children’s learning through play. Exploring a wide range of different sensory experiences is incredibly valuable to a child’s cognitive and creative development.

Many children find messy play relaxing as it gives them a chance for free, unstructured experimentation where they can express their feelings as they explore the materials. It also gives vast opportunities for developing fine motor skills and hand-eye co-ordination as they learn about the properties of the different materials and practise a whole host of different skills such as measuring, pouring and mixing.

Jelly is so much fun! And edible
for those who like to explore with
their mouths!!

There is no right or wrong way of doing messy play though sometimes the less input from the adult, the greater amount of learning goes on by the child as they are free to follow their own thought processes without worrying that they are doing something wrong. This takes quite a lot of effort from the parent, to sit back and not worry when the play dough colours get mixed or that the coloured rice has spilled all over the floor. My best investment for messy play has been big plastic mats to cover the floor, aprons (for when we are using paint though if it is water play we tend to just strip off…which we do quite often when painting too – any excuse to be naked for my boys!) and large trays to put the materials in.

Making potions with herbs and water - great sensory play!

Below I am going to show a few of the ways we have used messy play both in our house and at The Honeycomb Hub where we have messy play sessions every Wednesday at 10am.

The children loved exploring
scales using the coloured rice.

So pretty!
Who wouldn't want
to play?

Coloured Rice: This is incredibly easy to make yet makes such a beautiful invitation to play. Pour some rice in a zip lock bag, add a few drops of food colouring, close and mix it together. Once it is all coloured, pour onto a tray to dry. A great tool for practising pouring, measuring, exploring noise makers by putting different amounts into bottles and jars. This will last for months as long as it doesn’t get wet.

Coloured spaghetti – cook your spaghetti as usual, drain it and run cold water through it (this prevents sticking). Rub a few drops of olive oil into it and then a few drops of food colouring. Allow to dry a little (just so food colouring sticks) and then play!! This is very cool for making discovery tubs and hiding things such as numbers or animals in. NB, this won’t last for very long so make it when you can use it for a day or 2 in a row.

Sometimes you just have
to explore with your feet
as well as your hands!

The bowl of 'ice cream' my son
made me last week!

Play dough: This is probably my all time favourite item and deserves its own blog post really - watch this space! It is a great stress reliever (for adults as well as children!), strengthens fingers and co-ordination (is vital for future handwriting skills) and is so open ended that the creativity is endless. For the best play dough ideas I cannot recommend Anna from the imagination tree highly enough so check out her page and her brilliant no-cook recipe. https://theimaginationtree.com/best-ever-no-cook-play-dough-recipe/

Not only can you colour the play dough but scenting it with essential oils, cooking essences, herbs and spices add a whole new sensory experience as will providing different objects to play with it such as sticks, stones, seeds etc.

Seaside invitation to play with 2 coloured
play dough, shells and sea creatures.

Probably the most popular play dough invitation in our house.
Black play dough, diggers and cars. They honestly have played
for hours with this one (aged 18 months and 3) giving me the opportunity
to get tea.

Painting with coloured ice cubes
-great for hot days!

Paint: Paint is not just to be used on paint brushes or even just for flat surfaces. Finger printing, hand printing, foot printing, on paper, foil, stones, on the ground, on a table, stuck on a wall ... the possibilities are endless. I especially like giving different orientations for painting – using an easel or having the paper stuck to the wall is really great for encouraging crossing the midline (an imaginary line down the centre of your body from your head to your toes)which helps the different sides of the brain talk to each other and aids development of gross motor skills.

Paint and fly swats - some awesome
process art.

We love messy play at the Honeycomb Hub and the best thing about coming to the classes? You don’t have to clear it up!! This week’s session on Wednesday 7^th February is all using edible materials so perfect for the little ones who still explore everything by putting it in their mouths. Also a great opportunity to sit back with a complimentary cup of tea and really watch how your child is exploring the world around them. We are also offering a messy play session as an option in our party packages at The Honeycomb Hub.

The windows just looked too plain!
Look at that enjoyment as he uses a
whole other set of muscles to control
the brush in this orientation.

Just occasionally, the activity may go in a direction you weren't quite expecting but the sheer joy of exploration, and in the case below learning to clean themselves up with some water play, is definitely worth seeing where activities lead! Below may be my all time favourite painting experience - over an hour of play and one that has often been repeated since! By the end they were stripped off and running up and down the paper creating rainbow footprints - amazing action, process art!