Messy play provides children with a wide range of sensory experiences that help them learn about different textures and materials. Children often find these experiences very relaxing.
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Children develop their hand-eye coordination, as they scoop, pour, mix and measure the mixtures. They expand their vocabulary by learning descriptive words like, runny, warm, wet, smooth, lumpy, and slimy. It’s also a great creative outlet as they make up stories, practicing their communication and cooperation skills.
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Messy play is relaxing and soothing and can bring children to an awareness of being calm and relaxed. Feeling calm helps children to have a clearer mind which aids positive thinking, concentration, memory and decision making. Relaxation slows our heart rate, reduces our blood pressure and relieves tension.
Messy play solutions such as fingerpaint, slime and gloop are usually setup outside. Teachers often talk with children about what they notice about the substance. Sometimes resources like cups, jugs and spoons are added to the mixtures.
Children develop their hand-eye coordination, as they scoop, pour, mix and measure the mixtures.
Children often create stories related to the mixture or teachers might encourage children to move through the mixture while chanting a rhyme or singing. It’s a great creative outlet as they make up stories, practicing their communication and cooperation skills.
Children love to explore the properties of solutions – thicknesses of liquids, textures, how well the substance pours or moves are all things children observe and comment on.
Teachers often show children how the texture can change by, for example, adding more water to make it runnier or stickier. This helps children learn what happens when substances combine – when I add more water the liquid is thinner and pours more easily. When I combine colours the colour changes. This is the beginning of looking at changes in substances which is linked to science (material world) learning.
Teachers extend children’s vocabulary by adding words to what the children are noticing in their play – mixing, thick and thin liquids, texture words like smooth, lumpy, slimy, cold, warm, soft or sticky and for older pre-schoolers that love words try viscosity (how fast or slow the liquid pours), miscible (can mix with another liquid), immiscible (can’t mix with another liquid e.g. water and oil). Speaking to children informally about what they are experiencing at the time of their exploration is the best way to extend their vocabulary.
Children develop their creativity through pretend play as they explore a substance like finger paint or slime and add resources like cups and jugs or animals and sticks. In older children, this often leads to storytelling with each other.
Maths concepts are also introduced as children learn about pouring the mixture from one container to another – adults can talk to them about full, half full, some, more, little or big. This is a great way for children to learn about aspects measurement.
Messy Play | Korihori pōrehe
Continuing the learning at home
Encourage natural exploration with their hands and with materials like cups, large plastic serving spoons and jugs or plastic animals, sticks and leaves.
It good to have a flat surface for children to work on. Possibilities could be a low table or water baths and water trough or individual trays for children.
It’s always good to think ahead and have a place close by where children can wash and dry their hands. A bucket of warm water and a towel work well.
Introduce music or singing to the messy play experience.
Gather an assortment of materials that will make interesting patterns in the substance. A dishwashing brush, cardboard scrapers, leaves, twigs and stones are a good start.
