By exploring how things feel, smell and taste, this type of play nurtures an awareness and understanding of the world that surrounds them. Messy play is a sociable activity, whether with family or other children, so naturally, it will enrich relationships through social interaction.
Depending on what you make the messy play activity, you can also use it to develop language skills and encourage speech. High concentration levels are needed while engaging in messy play, from exploring objects and engaging all of their senses to thinking through their discoveries and trying to communicate them. This helps children to develop essential learning skills which then enables them to focus and concentrate when learning and practicing practical skills.
Next time when you see your child making marks in the sand, they could be developing an early form of writing! Or perhaps when you see them swap an object with another child, they are learning to share and negotiate with others. Hands-on play also offers many physical benefits, allowing your children to develop an awareness of their body and personal space whilst strengthening their muscle control. Activities such as pouring, shovelling or drawing in the sand help build strength in the large muscle groups at the top of the arms and it is these muscles that then enable the smaller muscles in the hands and fingers to make precise and controlled movements.
In messy play, children can play with tools to develop and practice their fine motor skills as well as their hand-eye coordination, until soon they can hold a pen or eat with a fork! With messy play, we can teach them that you can make your own entertainment!
Is it large or small? It is also a great way for children to engage in pretend play and using symbolic language. Shaving cream can become an ocean, play dough is suddenly a huge mountain or a forest.
Children also tend to talk more, using more language with pretend play. It gives them a chance to practice their vocabulary and use more complex language such as descriptive adjectives and verbs. Messy play is really the beginning of early STEM learning. Children use hands-on play and experiments to learn about the different environments and items they are exposed to. Math skills can include things like size, conservation, timing, matching, classifying and sorting.
Science skills can include things like cause and effect, gravity, problem-solving, and the beginnings of the scientific method. I have seen first hand the way messy play and sensory play can be used to help a child calm and focus on a task.
My 3-year-old is especially fond of play dough and his focus during that activity always amazes me. And messy play is a great way to encourage this pretend play. Messy play doesn't just benefit children under the age of eight.
My friend Sharla tells the story of her teenage son who was having a rough day with his emotions. He was upset and angry and on the verge of a meltdown. My friend, who is also a huge advocate of sensory play, had a bowl of cloud dough sitting out.
He mindlessly put one hand in and began to squeeze and knead and squish and shape. Slowly, his anger melted away. He sat there for over an hour and a half playing in that cloud dough and began to talk. That led to another batch of another type of cloud dough to compare the textures that he engaged in helping to make. Which led to some more talking, smiles, and then even some laughter.
Messy play is also a great way to encourage children to work together and cooperate in group play or one-on-one play. They learn about personal boundaries, understanding someone else's ideas and views, and they have the opportunity to express their own.
There is no one way or right way to messy play. It leaves the child in control of the outcome and they have the freedom to explore and test different theories in order to get the desired response. This can boost their self-confidence and also encourage them to find new ways to do things by using their imagination and creativity. The most obvious benefit of messy play is added sensory input.
As we already established, children learn through experiences and hands-on activities. Messy is one of the best ways to do this and also introduce your child to different types of sensory input. If you are working with a child who has sensory challenges, don't overwhelm them with too many different kinds of input. This can lead to a sensory meltdown if you aren't careful. Follow their lead and don't push them into something they aren't comfortable with.
If you are pressed for time in setting up messy play activities, then Messy Play Kits is a perfect solution for you. Let them do all the work of getting the ingredients and toys together and all you have to worry about is setting it up and having a good time. Messy Play Kits reached out to me asking if I would like to check out some of their kits and I knew immediately they were going to be a huge hit with the kids.
When the Under the Sea kit arrived, she was so excited. Messy Play Kits sends you everything you need in order to set up your messy play experience, you just need a tub or tray to put it all on or in.
I also loved that the Under the Sea Kit came with 4 different activities along with adaptations for each of those activities. We made the moonsand beach first. I decided to use a cookie sheet so she could pretend it was a beach a little easier. It came with shells, but we also added some of our own. Here are just a few reasons you should embrace messy play in the classroom: Messy play provides hands-on learning experiences.
Reading about something is a very different thing than actually seeing something in person and having the opportunity to touch and observe it. For example, you can read about rain in books, watch it fall, and measure how much rain has fallen, but you can't really understand what rain feels like until you feel raindrops on your skin or you're jumping in puddles of rainwater.
Messy play gives children the freedom to be creative. Messy play allows children to be children. If messy play is unrestricted within reason , children have the freedom to express their thoughts, build creations they've been wanting to build, try new things, and experiment with different materials and textures.
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