In this BLOG post I will explain what messy play is and the benefits it offers.
Messy play is allowing a child (or adult) the freedom to explore, create and express themselves through a variety of materials. Messy play can involve paints, doughs, slimes or water and engages ALL of your senses!
Messy play is creating a controlled mess. It is not about destroying or disrespecting a space. It is about having a space that allows you to dive deep into the world of sensory place. To smoosh and squeeze and push and pull and drop and PLAY!
It is a YES space. A space with freedom to explore and create and get messy.
It is about creativity and imagination. It is about learning personal boundaries. It is about experiencing materials in ways that make you happy. It is about understanding cause/effect.
Messy play can be so very beneficial for anyone!
What do you need for messy play?
Messy play is any activity in which your children can explore, create, play and activate their senses. Messy can be something you create, like play dough, Oobleck, slime or chalk paint. Messy play can also be playing in the mud, splashing in puddles, in a sandbox or outside in nature.
How to encourage messy play?
Start small. Put a tiny amount in a bowl and explore with it to see how it feels!
Play with them! Roll up your sleeves and get messy with them.
Let them know that getting messy is OK.
Have a clean-up strategy so that they can wipe their hands quickly if it becomes too much. Maybe have a towel in their lap or wipes right next to them.
Encourage starting with just one finger. "Poke the Oobleck with your pointer finger. How does it feel?"
Put the messy play substance (Oobleck, paint, etc) in a Ziploc bag. Practice touching it through the bag first.
What are the benefits of messy play?
The benefits of messy play are truly endless.
It's inclusive. There is no right or wrong to explore the materials during messy play. Because of this, kids of all ages and abilities can play together at their own developmental level. They can interact with their materials in their own way. They can interact with each other or just play next to each other. They can sit or they can stand. They can use their hands or just poke it with their finger. They can talk and sing as they play or just sit back and observe.
There is no wrong way to play!!!!
Fine & Gross Motor Skills: As the child squishes and squeezes, they are developing their finger and hand muscles. Those same finger and hand muscles are responsible for self-help skills such as: feeding yourself, zippering your coat and holding a pencil during writing! Messy play can also help support spatial awareness, balance & coordination.
Here are some ways that messy play supports fine and gross motor skills:
As they grab, pinch and poke items during messy play, children are practicing the pincer grasp, which is necessary for writing.
As they reach and stretch during messy play, they are strengthening their balance, coordination and core strength.
As they squeeze and squish a sensory base, they are working the muscles in their fingers and hands. This allows for children to develop self-help skills such as zippering their coat, buttoning their pants and feeding themselves.
Hand-Eye Coordination: Hand-eye coordination is simultaneously using your hands & your eyes for a task. Strong hand-eye coordination helps you with tasks such as feeding yourself, coloring in the lines & pouring a drink in a cup. Strong hand-eye coordination is also crucial for reading, writing, playing sports and self-help skills, such as tying your shoes!
Here are some ways that messy play supports hand-eye coordination:
Finger paint.
Roll balls of dough in between your thumb and pointer finger.
Smoosh dough onto play dough mats.
Scoops Pom Poms and pour them into a cup or bowl.
Bilateral coordination is using both sides of the body to complete a task, in a coordinated manner. Bilateral coordination is crucial to a child's development. It involves integrating both hands in movements and tasks. A child who is sufficient in these skills are able to efficiently play, feed and dress themselves and explore outdoors. When both sides of the body work together in a coordinated way, it shows that both sides of the brain are also working together.
A child who struggles with bilateral coordination may appear clumsy, frequently drop things and/or struggle to do tasks with both hands.
Tasks that involve bilateral coordination are:
Tying your shoes
Cutting food with a fork and knife
Putting on your socks
Putting on your pants
Squirting toothpaste onto your toothbrush
Pouring your drink into a cup
Jumping jacks
Riding a bike
Throwing and catching a ball
Writing and drawing
Here are some ways that messy play can support bilateral coordination:
Take play dough and roll it into a ball in between both hands.
Take a ball of play dough and roll it into a snake shape, using both hands.
Take that snake shape and use safety scissors to practice cutting it into small pieces.
Pound and smash the ball of play dough with your hands until it is flat.
Add scoops and cups into a bucket of water. Practice scooping and pouring it into a cup.
Cognitive development refers to how a child acquires and understands information; how they think, learn and problem solve. There are many opportunities to develop cognitive development during messy play through problem solving and understanding cause/effect.
There are so many skills that fall under cognitive development, including problem solving, numeracy, sorting and classifying, matching and cause and effect. The beauty of sensory play, especially messy play, is that all of these skills are hard at work as they explore!
The more they can scoop and squish and dig and pour, the more connections they are making in their brains. All of these connections set them up to be strong and successful learners.
Here are some ways that messy play supports cognitive development:
As kids explore through sensory play, the cognitive process instantly begins! They begin processing and asking questions such as "what is this? How does it feel? What happens when I smoosh it? What will happen if I dump it?" The process begins without even know
As kiddos touch and see and smell through play, they are naturally making connections to the world around them, setting them up to be successful learners!
Language Development: Messy play is SO good for supporting language development. There are opportunities to learn new words and practice phrases, all through play!
Here are some language opportunities that show up during messy play:
Using descriptive language: bumpy, sharp, soft, smooth, sticky
Asking questions: How does it feel? What does it look like? How does it smell?
Using action words: Let's pour it in the cup! Can you mix it? I like to smoosh the dough!
Labeling colors, sounds and textures.
Requesting help, asking for sensory tools or asking questions about your play.
Social Skills: Messy play can help to establish and strengthen social skills. Children will practice using their manners, sharing, turn-taking and having patience. Through sensory play experiences, children learn that other children and adults have thoughts, ideas, and feelings that can be different then their own.
Here are some opportunities to practice social skills during messy play:
Sharing space- learning how to safely and appropriately keep your body in your own space while sitting in close proximity.
Manners- practicing using manners when requesting sensory tools/items.
Patience- practicing waiting your turn for materials, waiting your turn to speak and waiting for help, if needed.
Problem solving- sensory play provides incredible opportunities to practice problem solving skills both independently and with peers. What happens if my tower falls? What should I do if my water spills? What do I do if someone takes my tool from my hands?
Attention Span + Focus: Sensory play is an easy way to support growing your attention span and focus. It provides a fun and engaging way for kids to develop these skills. The more practice they have through play, the more it will transfer over to tasks such as schoolwork, reading and daily tasks.
Self-Regulation: Self-regulation is one's ability to understand and manage their own behavior and emotions. Self-regulation strategies need to be taught, modeled and reinforced frequently, especially for young children.
Self-regulation involves:
Managing emotions and behavior, to fit the needs of the situation or setting that you are in.
Controlling your own thoughts and feelings
Resisting impulsive urges that may not be appropriate for the setting or that may be unsafe.
Being able to calm down your body and brain when you are feeling upset.
Learning to be flexible and adjust to unexpected changes.
It is a large set of skills that take practice, modeling and reinforcement to achieve.
Here are some opportunities to practice self-regulation skills during messy play:
Simple, repetitive movements and motions can help to support self-regulation in children, teens and adults. As they explore and activate their senses, their bodies are engaged and supported and working toward regulation.
Co-regulation is an important tool and one that can easily be displayed during sensory play. As a parent or caregiver explores sensory play together with their child, they are modeling how to problem solve, how to handle problems that arise and a variety of ways to play.
Sensory play also provides a safe space to release big emotions. You can smoosh and smash play dough. You can smash ice. You can dump out your cup of rice. You can push your truck through the Oobleck. You can move and stretch and release your body of those big emotions.
Messy play is MESSY but there are ways to minimize that mess and make clean-up a bit easier for all! here are our BEST Clean-Up Tips!
Put an old beach towel or sheet under the sensory bin to catch any drips.
If possible, take the messy play outdoors!
Dress children accordingly: wear "play" clothes or ones that are easily washed to avoid ruining anything new.
Set up the play area before kids start exploring. I put the towel or sheet down, bring over a bag or wipes, a roll of paper towels and a plastic bag to put the "trash" in.
Don't set up the messy play near a new carpet or floors that are easily damaged. Pick your "sensory spot" and stick with it!
Plan to take tubs or showers immediately after messy play. If outdoors, use the hose to rinse off!
Get kids involved in the clean-up. Assign everyone a task so that they are involved and have ownership in the activity.
You get to decide what is safe and manageable in your home. Always monitor young children.
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