Why Your Child Loves Messy Play

Get the tarpaulin out – it’s time for messy play! From a young age, most children are inherently drawn to making a mess, from smothering food over their faces to picking up bits of dog fur, splashing in the bath to stomping through puddles.

Messy play is not only fun but it’s also hugely beneficial to children’s development, which is why we at Auckland childcare centre Learning Tree often incorporate making a mess into our youngsters’ lives. Here’s the what, why and how of messy play with your infant or toddler.

What is Messy Play?

Messy play, sometimes called sensory play, is playing with materials like mud, water, glue, paint or anything else you can dream up. It’s letting children explore homemade slime, roll around in the sand or squish playdough between their fingers and toes.

Messy play allows children to explore the tactile world using their creativity and imagination. It is intrinsically fun and is a child-led activity, meaning that your little one leads how they interact with the materials. For kids at daycare, messy play is a treasured time.

Why is it Important?

Messy play helps children develop and learn in so many different ways. The various tactile sensations they experience teach them about the physical world, letting them discover the differences between tangible real-world experiences like rough, wet, soft and squishy.

Research into early childhood learning tells us that messy play literally helps the brain develop, building and strengthening neural pathways within the brain – the building blocks for language and cognition, motor skills, problem solving and socialisation.

This favourite childcare activity is child-led with no end goal, which means that children have freedom to explore on their own, helping them develop their sense of self, self-esteem and confidence.

How to do Messy Play at Home

We understand that getting messy isn’t always an adult’s idea of fun which is just another reason why messy play at childcare centres is so important! But if you do want to incorporate messy play into your home routine as well, here are a few useful tips:

• Set up: find a safe place to play that you don’t mind getting messy and gather anything you need including materials, towels and tarpaulins.

• Join in: your child will love seeing you play and get messy and will be fascinated by your reaction.

• Talk and sing: like any other type of play, continue to use language and music to interact with your child and help them learn.

• Use descriptive words: help build their vocabulary by using adjectives they may have never heard before like wet, smooth, warm, lumpy and slimy.

There are heaps of online resources for the likes of homemade slime, sand playdough and gloop. Or if you’re a parent in Auckland, pop into one of our five Learning Tree Childcare centres and we’ll give you a few of our favourite recipes! We have daycare centres in Hobsonville, Silverdale, Westgate, Apollo Drive and Rosedale.