Many parents cringe at the thought of giving their kids messy play activities to do. Playing with slime or clay sounds fun to the kids, but who cleans up the mess? Scooping and mixing means spilling and sweeping. A painting project sounds like a recipe for splatter. Often that’s the end of the debate. We tell our kids not to get dirty or make a mess. We opt for keeping their clothes neat and clean.
But there’s more to messy play than meets the eye.
Benefits of Messy Play
Messy play, also known as sensory play, involves children exploring a variety of textures with their senses, especially their sense of touch. It is a play-based activity that allows kids to discover ways to use and manipulate tactile media with their hands and fingers.
Feeling different textures is essential for developing new sensory connections.
Messy play is an essential part of early development. Babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and early elementary students benefit from unstructured play with various tactile media. In addition, research shows that messy play is crucial for children to develop, explore, and learn.
Promoting messy play is a valuable learning experience. Children develop creativity by manipulating, molding, feeling, and shaping materials. The play is free, unstructured, and open-ended. It is focused on something other than producing a finished project. Instead, children try, test, and analyze their creations.
Most children enjoy messy play. They love to knead, scoop, pour, squeeze, touch, smell, and mix different materials. By participating in messy play, kids develop hand-eye coordination and use small hand muscles. In addition, playing with a variety of materials and consistencies leads to exceptional fine motor development.
Play-dough play helps strengthen fine motor skills.
Kneading and molding playdough may sound simple, but these activities accelerate sensory development. Messy play helps grow and strengthen neural connections, which leads to the ability to perform more complicated tasks. It also provides many opportunities for speaking, describing, and sharing new ideas, thus expanding language and communication skills. In the process, children build confidence, focus, and curiosity.
Also, is your kid a picky eater? Again, sensory play exposes kids to a wide spectrum of textures and mediums, which can translate to a willingness to try a greater variety of food.
Food play and exploration is a key for eating and tolerating a variety of food textures.
Lack of Sensory Play Has Adverse Effects
Neglecting adequate messy play opportunities in childhood might contribute to learning and emotional difficulties. For example, children might present fine motor control challenges evidenced by decreased hand strength and poor ability to control and hold small items such as crayons. In addition, some children show tactile defensiveness and become uncomfortable with simple daily tasks like touching glue or paint during an art project. Other children might avoid new foods, become picky eaters, and refuse food based on appearance before tasting it.
Summary
As parents and educators, let’s encourage our kids to explore, create, play, and grow. Messy play activities are fun and motivating learning opportunities for children 0 to 10. This enjoyable play promotes sensory, fine motor, emotional, academic, and language growth. So it’s time to have fun making a mess! Please look at ideas below.
Have fun making a mess.
Messy Play Ideas
Please read below for some messy play ideas for home and the classroom. Always keep safety in mind when working with different materials and younger children. Watch for choking hazards, check potentially harmful chemicals, and consider allergies.
All the information we
receive about the world comes to us through our senses. Sensory integration is
the process in the brain that allows us to take in information from our body
and environment through our senses, organizing all the various stimuli, and effectively
using all this information to plan and execute appropriate responses.
We receive this
information from the sensations of sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste, as well
as our secret senses, movement, and balance-vestibular sense, and joints and muscles
called proprioception. Normal sensory functioning allows us to experience and
respond to situations in a meaningful way. It occurs automatically in most
children and adults. It happens unconsciously or with little attention or
effort.
When our brain organizes
all the countless bits of information that enter our mind appropriately, we can
respond and interact well within our environment. We feel protected, we enjoy
our surroundings, and we have the inner drive and motivation to participate in
daily tasks. Sensory integration is the underlying foundation for academic
learning and appropriate social behavior.
Five Senses and Beyond
Vision: Visual processing refers to the brain’s ability to interpret visual information from the world around us. Interpreting stimuli through the eyes, including peripheral vision and acuity, awareness of color and pattern
Hearing: Auditory processing refers to the brain’s ability to interpret auditory information from the world around us. Interpreting and localizing sounds and discriminating background noises.
Gustatory: Taste processing refers to interpreting food tastes for our enjoyment.
Touch: Tactile processing refers to the brain’s ability to interpret touch sensations. Interpreting light touch, pressure, temperature, pain, and vibration through skin contact.
Smell: Olfactory processing refers to the brain’s ability to interpret odors.
Proprioception: Proprioception refers to the brain’s ability to interpret body position sense and control for force and pressure. Interpreting stimuli originating in the muscles, joints, and other internal tissues to give information about one body part in relation to another.
Vestibular: Vestibular processing refers to the brain’s ability to interpret balance and motion. Interpreting stimuli from the inner ear receptors regarding head position and movement.
Sensations nourish the
brain. “You know that food nourishes your body,
but it must be digested to do so. You can think of sensations as food for the
brain; they provide the knowledge needed to direct the body and mind. But
without well-organized sensory processes, sensations cannot be digested and
nourish the brain.” (Ayers)
Our children are
programmed to enjoy experiences that advance the development, and they
naturally seek experiences that nourish their brains. It is why our children
enjoy being rocked and hugged, this is why they like running, jumping,
climbing, swinging, sliding, exploring playground equipment, playing and
building with sand, clay, and paint. All these sensations nourish the young
brain, and it is fun to explore, partake, and develop sensory integration.
“Children are designed to enjoy activities that challenge
them to experience new sensations and develop new motor functions.” (Ayers)
Sensory integration is
when all our senses are organized and work well together to have meaningful
encounters with the world around us. It plays an essential role in child
development. Sensations have a powerful impact on a young child and provide
meaning to experiences. All children must boost sensory integration by
interacting with many things in the world.
Children that are
happy, well-coordinated, and enjoy ever-challenging childhood tasks are the
children that organize their sensations effectively; therefore, they have
uniquely well developed sensory integration. Their brain produces valuable body
responses and valid perceptions, emotions, and thoughts.
“Sensory integration sorts, orders, and eventually puts all
sensory input together into a whole-brain function.” (Ayers)
Some children might
misinterpret integrating sensations. Simple activities might be challenging,
learning might be difficult, and some events might trigger undesired behaviors.
Without well
functioning sensory integration, challenges in learning, development, or
behavior may be evident. “Reading, writing, and
arithmetic…are extremely complex processes that can develop only upon a strong
foundation of sensory integration.” (Ayers)
Pyramide of Learning, Taylor and Trott, 1991
Creating playful and
sensory-rich environments and activities will foster healthy growth. Children
develop skills through play, and a mix of complex experiences will help them
develop enhanced abilities to face challenges in life.
As a parent, when you become aware of the process of sensory integration in your child, you will be better equipped to notice a potential thread or help your child overcome challenges, which will lead to a more regulated child and happier family.
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References
Ayers, A.J., (2005). Sensory Integration and the Child, Understanding Hidden Challenges. Western Psychological Services.
The Pyramid of Learning. Taylor and Trott, 1991, cited in and reprinted from How does your engine run? (p. 4) by M.S. Williams & S. Shellenberger 1994, Albuquerque NM USA: Therapy Works. Copyright 1991 by Taylor and Trott. Permission granted for reprinting for educational purposes.
