A lot of parents hate messy play, and who can really blame them? Messy play activities can take ages to set up, often require a lot of materials, sometimes only keep your child occupied for a matter of minutes, and the mess. Oh, the mess.
However, this doesn’t have to be the case.
There are ways to enjoy messy play with your child without wanting to rip your hair out or collapse on the floor in a flood of tears, plus the benefits of messy play are unparalleled. Keep reading to find out how messy play can benefit your child.
It Nurtures Their Creativity and Imagination
Imagine you are a child. Now imagine being given a tray of sand, a bowl of water and a handful of straws. Your imagination would run wild with the endless possibilities of fun and creativeness that you could partake in with just these few simple ingredients, not to mention the sensory experience of it all; the feeling of wet sand between your fingers and toes, the sound of water splashing and the sight of the straws blowing the sand around the tray.
Top tip: In the winter months, utilize your bathtub for messy play to restrict mess.
It Can Help Aid Language Development
If your child cannot yet communicate verbally with you or other children, messy play is a great channel for them to express themselves and communicate. This can be done through gestures or by moving objects around to show you what they have discovered.
Top tip: A great mark-making activity is to fill a tray with glitter and ask your child to make shapes or letters (depending on their age) with their fingers.
It Improves Their Concentration
How often have you bought your child a new toy or game, only for them to cast it aside just moments later? There are only so many ways that you can play with a toy car, but with messy play, the opportunities are endless. This can lead to your child developing a higher level of concentration through practical play, as well as mastering essential learning skills such as exploration, engagement and focus. If you are concerned about making a mess, particularly if you do not own your property, it can be worthwhile to book an end of lease cleaning session to remove any stubborn stains.
Top tip: Limit the number of objects or materials you give your child. Three different elements are more than enough and see how many ways they can utilize them for play.
It Helps Develop Their Fine and Gross Motor Skills
Both of these skills are vital in your child’s development; with fine motor skills needed to build up strength in the muscles in their fingers, wrists, toes and shoulders in order to make small movements; and gross motor skills required to make bigger movements that are vital for balance and coordination.
Fine motor activities include:
- Playing with dough
- Threading beads onto ribbon
- Using pipettes in colored water play
Gross motor activities include:
- Pinecone splatter art
- Jumping in puddles
- Sweeping the floor
Top tip: Invest in mess-free paint for mark-making, or even better, squeeze some paint into a zip bag – allowing your child to be creative with zero mess.
