Messy Play in the Early Years

Why Messy Play?

Messy play fascinates and engages young children providing a wealth of opportunities for learning. Children develop fine motor skills as they handle and manipulate different materials. They develop their vocabulary and language skills as they discuss and describe these. Messy play encourages creativity as children can choose how they use and manipulate the materials with no predetermined aim or result.  

Messy play also supports children’s knowledge of scientific concepts as they explore and discuss the properties of different materials, changing states of matter and chemical reactions. Children learn to predict, hypothesize, observe and problem solve as they explore and create.

Continuous Provision - Messy Play Area

Organisation:  

Messy play can be offered in a variety of places, both indoors and outside, ideally near a water source or with hand washing facilities nearby. Tuff trays can offer opportunities for large scale, cooperative play and provide a natural boundary.  

Useful resources include:  

• Containers - transparent trays, bowls or various sizes, individual trays, spray bottles  
• Ingredients – food colouring, plain flour, cornflour, cooking oil, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder, essences, soap flakes, slime, snow play, gelli play, cellulose paste  
• Art materials – washable paints, clay, rolls of paper, fabric, plastic sheeting, rollers, printing materials, brushes 
• Manipulatives and tools – scoops, spoons, forks, rolling pins, cutters  
• Small world toys – vehicles, people and animals 

Resources can be placed on shelves with corresponding labels and children taught how to access and use these as needed.   

The adult’s role: 

• Planning, reviewing, and sourcing ideas and activities
• Teaching children how to access and use the area and resources  
• Modelling skills and activities  
• Introducing new vocabulary and engaging in conversations to promote language development  
• Questioning and challenging to promote inquiry and thinking skills for example:  

o   “What do you think is happening?” 

o   “Why did that happen?”  

o   “What do you think might happen if?”  

o   “What could we add? Do differently?”  

Messy Science

The following activities promote scientific enquiry, encouraging children to hypothesize, predict, observe and problems solve. Children will also be developing mathematical skills as they measure ingredients.  

• Mix it up – Encourage children to add different quantities of water to different materials such as cornflour or clay and to explore and manipulate it. Encourage children to observe closely and discuss what they see happening. How is it changing? What words would they use to describe it? How could they make it thicker or runnier?  
• Playdough creation station – Involve children in making playdough. Give them the opportunity to measure and mix the ingredients. Explore what happens when you mix different quantities. Include different textures such as cocoa powder or wholemeal flour and discuss the results  
• Volcanic Eruption - Using water, washing up liquid, baking soda and vinegar make a mini volcano! Measure and combine the ingredients, finally adding the vinegar and watch what happens!  

Messy Art