Why messy play for babies

But, messy play also can enhance their fine motor and cognitive skills as well. Affiliate links used below.

See our full disclosure. What types of textures can you use for messy play with babies and toddlers? Take a look at the list below to see what messy play for babies inspires you:. Edible finger paint. Craft feathers , large pom-poms , and scraps of feathers. Sensory bags — Take a Ziplock back and fill it with hair gel.

Smooth it out and possibly add some glitter and other tiny objects. Allow your baby or toddler to squeeze and look at the bag. Sensory bottles — Use a recycled and sturdy water bottle to fill with oil, water, food coloring, and tiny toys to create an interesting visual display for babies to watch when the bottle is shook up. Colored scarves — One of my favorite toys for babies are sheer multi colored scarves. You can also add these scarves to a used tissue box and encourage your baby to pull them out!

Ribbon box — Tie 10 to 15 ribbons from the edge of a table or box and let the ribbons dangle. Preschoolers are working on building their foundational skills, such as moving their bodies, learning about the world around them, practicing basic social interactions, and developing crucial emotion regulation skills.

Messy and Sensory Play can help with all of these skills. Outside - The park or your back yard open up an entire world of sensory play opportunities.

Dig in the mud, pick up sticks, arrange leaves, etc. Also be sure to try the color-changing slime kits that change in sunlight!

Bath Tub - Keep the mess contained and make clean up easy by taking your messy play to the tub. Sand Box - Dig, scoop, fill, dump, bury, build! The possibilities are endless!

Remember to let your child play with sand dry and wet for different sensory experiences. Dough, Slime, Oobleck - Play dough is a well known material and easy to find at the store or make yourself.

Slime is stretchy and squishy and so incredibly satisfying to play with and now can be made to change colors as you play! Each provides different sensory experiences for your child so try them all! Art and Crafts - Let your child get messy with paint and glue! Pantry - Brown rice, white rice, dry pasta, and dry lentils are a few great base materials for creating your own sensory bins.

Raid the cupboards for homemade play dough ingredients! Or make it easy with the convenience of sensory bins shipped right to your door with a monthly sensory bin subscription box! You may be hesitant to let your child explore messy play, but there are tons of ways to make messy easy to clean up check out this blog post about keeping the mess contained!

Browse through all the posts about getting started with messy play! Ready to get messy? Check out these video tutorials!

Having a defined space that communicates where and how to play can support children who are dual language learners in understanding the expectations for messy play. Children engage more when they are in an inviting, comfortable environment. This means thinking about the amount of space, the lights and sounds, the colors, and the decorations.

It means creating a space that will be comforting. Too many tools or too many different materials might be overwhelming to children, so consider starting simple. Material exploration is often a slow process. Be sure to plan enough time to allow individual children to engage at their own pace.

Children and adults also benefit when messy play is done in an environment that is easily cleaned. Tarps are effective, as are other temporary floor or table coverings. Shower curtains work great too — and they are inexpensive. If you are doing messy exploration that will require water for cleanup, consider doing the activity near a sink, a cleanup area, or outside. And remember we can help children learn cleaning skills, too. For older infants and toddlers, leaving time for cleanup at the end of messy play is a great way to transition to other routines or play opportunities.

It helps children learn responsibility and provides a helpful cue that the messy play is finished. Individual children have different levels of interest in and tolerance for messy play, and it is important to observe and respond to those preferences. Offer messy play materials such as paper, loose parts, or natural materials that do not require hands to get sticky or wet. Try This! Help families create sensory bins. A simple plastic bin can be used like a sensory table to keep material engagements contained.

These handy bins are easily cleaned, and they can facilitate all kinds of wet and dry material engagements. Start infants with dry materials such as paper, balls or large pom poms. Older toddlers might enjoy beads or sand.

Make sure the materials are safe and age appropriate. Hot Topics. Seasonal Activities. Valentine's Day. Things to make. Things to do. Child Development. Services For Kids. Toys Books Play. Benefits of play. Homemade play dough. Homemade slime. Homemade toys. Kids gift ideas. Play ideas. Shaving foam activities. Messy play is so much fun and comes with numerous benefits for preschoolers. From playing with water in the bath to creating something with playdough, experimenting with paint and lots of other exciting activities.