Messy Play is Magic

Messy play – quite possibly my favourite kind of play. It’s fun, engaging and whilst a lot of the time, to the untrained eye it looks like pure chaos, to those in education, messy play is absolutely wonderful.

Messy play is so much more than dirty hands, messy smocks and a whole lot of cleaning up; it’s this wonderful and magical avenue to rich and meaningful learning, a gateway to self-expression and sensory discovery to those curious little minds you have the privilege of moulding.

In this blog, I want to dive into the benefits of messy play during early childhood and challenge those of you who dread it, to bring a little more curated chaos into your home or classroom.

Messy play, curated chaos, pre-approved pandemonium, managed mayhem, whatever you choose to call it, let’s talk about how it helps children develop the skills to become confident, imaginative and competent individuals. Whether you’re a parent, educator or just passionate about play, consider this your permission slip to get your hands dirty and embrace the mess.

 What is Messy Play?

 Messy Play is all about offering play opportunities for unstructured and open-ended play. No set outcome or goal, just pure   unadulterated fun and discovery. It’s hands-on play that’s all about trial and error, thinking outside the box to investigate and   discover. Think finger painting, sensory trays, shaving foam, mud pies and water play. This style of play encourages children to   be autonomous, make choices and test out their ideas. As they do children are developing their creativity, cognitive processing   and exercising their independence in a safe learning environment.

 Why should you encourage messy play?

 Sensory Learning

 Our senses are our most powerful tool right from our earliest years of life. From the very start babies are constantly seeking   sensory input to understand the world around them. We’re naturally curious creatures, and children are the most curious of all.   Messy play provides children with the perfect opportunity to explore the world around them through their senses. Whether it’s through the ooze of Oobleck through their fingers, cool water on their hands, or the grit of sand under their little feet, it all helps them understand their environment.

Through engaging their senses and exploring their environment, children experiment with the notion of change and cause and effect and learn how to question the world around them to deepen what they know and understand.

Sensory play, and indeed messy play, is a pivotal part of supporting healthy brain development in the early yeas. Exploring the world through their senses allows their brains to make new connections between their body, brain and their external environment, creating the foundations for fundamental lifelong learning.

 

Creativity and Imagination

There’s a good chance anyone reading this blog knows a child who is hesitant to get their hands dirty or is afraid to make a mess. Sometimes all that child needs is a little support, permission and encouragement to get involved. Messy play can be overwhelming for some children, but that is the very reason why it is so important!

The more we support and encourage children to partake in a bit of messy play and celebrate their attempts, the more creative and confident they become. When we allow children to think outside the box, their imaginations run wild and it’s a beautiful thing to see. Providing children with open-ended experiences like messy play supports their capacity to problem solve, think abstractly and enhances their positive dispositions towards creativity and learning.

 

Social Skills

Setting up a messy play station for a group of children is a fantastic tool for developing their emerging social skills. Children are faced with the need to share, take turns and work alongside their peers to engage with the activity. Children who set up an ice-cream shop in the sandpit, bake mud pies for their market, or follow a recipe to make slime are engaging in cooperative play and learn to build the necessary skills to communicate their opinions, thoughts and ideas, as well as how to navigate social dynamics of group work and play.

 

Physical Development

If you need an activity that’ll keep children engaged for longer than 2 minutes and that’s also a mini workout for those motor skills…messy play may be your new best friend. Both fine and gross motor skills are abundantly utilised and developed during this type of unstructured play.

Carrying buckets of wet sand and mud, picking up grains of rice, manipulating playdough or pouring water, are all motor skill workouts perfect for those busy little bodies. Physical manipulation of objects and materials helps develop a connection between the body and brain that lays the groundwork for important development later in life.

“Based on my observations of children engaging in muddy play, I saw numerous benefits to their learning and development, including internalizing routines, developing confidence, and engaging in critical thinking.”
Hannah Fruin, NAEYC, 2020
 

Putting the mess into practice 

So, you know the why and a little bit about the what, but the other half of the what, is what does it look like in practice? Well, that’s pretty easy, messy play if fundamentally simple to set up and fairly inexpensive, so here are some of my favourite ways to get messy:

Utilise Nature

Nature and messy play go hand in hand. Mud, leaves, sticks, water…nature does most of the work for you. Mud play is an absolute must, and science says so too. In 2007 researchers from the University of Bristol found that ‘friendly’ bacteria found in soil can trigger neurons that release serotonin in the brain. So, head outside with the children, gather some old kitchen utensils, mix up some mud and start your very own mud kitchen!

Be ready for clean up

Clean up should be a community responsibility, so make sure you’re involving children in this process too. It helps them learn to be an active participant in society and to take responsibility for their classroom space. Have your cleaning supplies ready to go and get children involved and celebrate their efforts.

 

 So you’ve got some concerns...

 Time

 As someone who knows first-hand how busy your days get in childcare, I understand saying we don’t have time for that.   Sometimes the day just gets on top of you and you run out of time. Try to set yourself up for success and plan ahead.   Include messy play in your curriculum plan and set the time aside when it works best for your classroom. Start small with   30 minutes of playdough time and work up to the bigger activities when you feel ready.

 They put everything in their mouths!

 When you’re planning your messy play experiences, I will always recommend using food safe materials for making slime and sensory trays, remembering also to consider any allergies in your classroom. Use food dye to add colour and make sure you’re using child safe, nontoxic paints. As for any other objects you use, make sure you give them a good clean in warm soapy water where possible before and after use.

 

“Give children the okay to get messy. Parents [and educators] shouldn’t be afraid to let things get messy themselves. So, roll up your sleeves and have some fun engaging in messy play with your child[ren]!”

Play Matters Australia, 2022

 

The Bigger Picture

In a world that too often focuses on structure, measurable outcomes, and success, messy play reminds us of the importance of having fun and focusing instead on the journey to the discovery, not the discovery itself. As adults, we’re sometimes too quick to forget that the learning happens in those incredible moments in between.

When you provide children with a safe and nurturing environment to play, they develop a resilient growth mindset, engaging in trial and error, learning to fail and try again. Whether the children are building a tower out of mud and sticks or seeing what happens when they mix all the playdough colours together, they’re learning that it’s okay to make mistakes and to keep going. The skill of resilience, and the understanding that failure is oftentimes a key part of success is one of the most important things we send children out into the world with.

Mess is magic and I implore you to embrace it wholeheartedly.