It
is known that children have always enjoyed getting messy — from
splashing in puddles to playing games in the mud, youngsters love
getting their hands dirty! Often, we let children discover these new
environments themselves. However, messy play can be beneficial for
babies and toddlers too, in fact it can help with their cognitive
development in many ways. Together with Infinite Playgrounds,
designers of outdoor classrooms and advocates of sensory play, we
take a closer look at messy play and how it can be implemented in
schools and nurseries.
What
is it?
Messy
play is all about allowing children to experience and explore objects
that they aren’t always exposed to. It involves playing with
anything that gets messy! This could be sand, water, chalk, paint or
playdough. There are now many playgroups set up with messy play as
the focus as the benefits have become widely recognised.
Often
when parents play with their children, it is structured play with a
target in mind — for example, pressing buttons to make the toy
light up or make a sound. Messy play is different, as it is
unstructured and allows the child to use their own imagination and
explore new materials without any end goal.
This
sort of play can support physical development too. As children create
shapes with the materials, they are using their arms and they might
push things around with their feet.
What
are the benefits?
There
are many benefits for children when they engage with messy play.
For
children with special educational needs or disabilities, messy play
is a good way for them to interact with other children by
communicating in different ways. They may be slower at reading or
speaking but can join in with messy play.
It
can encourage children to develop the ability of creating signs and
starting to write as well. By drawing pictures and shapes in the
materials such as sand, they begin to discover their hands as writing
tools and experiment with what they can do. This practice also allows
them to build up their finger and arm muscles, which can be useful
when children begin to pick up a pen.
Unstructured
play in general allows toddlers and children to explore their
imagination and practise concentration. As they come up with their
own games or focus on moving the materials around, they learn more
about how their bodies work and their spatial awareness improves.
Playing
with the materials also allows the child to practice their fine motor
skills and develop their hand-eye coordination. This goes on to
improve their abilities in sports and involvement in games in the
future.
Research
has proven that toddlers are quicker to learn about solid objects due
to their unchanging size and shape. Exposing children to soft
materials allows them to learn more about non-solid materials and
broaden their knowledge. It also allows them to compare and
understand textures. For example, two things may look the same from
afar but when they interact with them and touch them, they can
understand the difference.
How
can it be implemented in schools?
Many
parents implement messy play at home — allowing their children to
play with their food or splash around in the garden. However, it’s
important to implement it in schools too, where children can interact
with each other in new environments.
Ways
to introduce messy play into the curriculum can be as follows:
* Installing
a sand pit indoors.
* Adapting
lesson plans. For younger children, take counting lessons outdoors or
let them practise measuring water with cups and jugs.
* Introducing
a rota for lunch and break time, where children can engage in messy
play with access to the sand pit or water features.
* Encouraging
parents to bring spare clothes or provide overalls for children so
they are able to get messy.
* Children
don’t have to be sat in the materials to reap the benefits of messy
play — finger painting and playing with water is classed as messy
too.
* Asking
questions to children to spark their interest. ‘I wonder what will
happen if we pour this over here?’, for example, can keep children
engaged and gives them an opportunity to answer the question in their
own way.
Do
you enjoy messy play with your children?
* In
collaboration with Infinite Playgrounds *
