A huge part of what we are doing in both our Messy Art class and our Nature Explorers classes is getting messy! Sometimes as a parent, the idea of a mess can be stressful. I mean we have so much going on already, that the thought of cleaning up a messy activity or a messy child is enough to make you want to skip out on it entirely. But what if there are benefits to getting messy? What if it’s actually good for your kids to see a mess, get messy, and even help clean it up in the end?
The Beauty of Messy Play
The best part of messy play is that you really can’t go wrong with whatever you choose to do. It doesn’t take a lot of preparation; you can kind of just throw things out and see what your little one decides to do with it all. You can cook together (simple recipes that you already know and just let your child go with it, experiment a bit). You can put out different color paints and let them mix them together. Or add in other craft materials and see what they come up with. You can create slime with your kids using simple materials you already have at home. You can go outside on a rainy day and splash around in puddles and mud. Or let your kids garden with you, and play in the dirt. There are so many ways to let your kids get dirty, and no matter what you choose, they will benefit from it all!
Benefits of Risk Taking
There are so many benefits of letting your kids get messy, but to me the biggest by far is simply the fun that they will have! Some kids may be hesitant at first, especially if they’ve been told to stay away from messes or if they are the type of child who just prefers to be clean. But the more you try it out, the more you give them the opportunity to get messy, the more they will take to it and the more fun you will all have!
Messy Play Fosters Imagination, Creativity and Exploration
As I said above, there is really no wrong way to play messy, and often the best way is to just put things out for your child to experiment with and see what happens. When we let kids go with their play and let them take the lead, their natural curiosity will take over and they will begin to play in ways you never imagined. When you play with natural resources instead of toys, they can use their imagination and creativity to determine what exactly to do with those things. Again, getting messy is fun for most kids, so they’ll want more and they’ll explore new things to do each time.
Messy Play Promotes Cognitive Development
Allowing your child to engage in messy play will help their brains develop in more ways than you thought possible. They will learn to problem solve if something “goes wrong” in their play and what they are doing (again there really is no “wrong,” but your child may not like the outcome and want a different one). It will allow them to think about other ways to use different materials and figure out how they work. They will learn about the world around them, as well as about themselves. The sensory part of messy play helps them to learn about and develop the use of their senses. They’ll learn about the natural resources they are playing with. They’ll learn what happens when you mix colors, or ingredients when cooking. They figure out how a plant grows, or how mud is made. They figure out how to pour from one container to another, and the difference in volume and mass of objects. They may start counting and measuring as they get a bit older. Really the cognitive development is infinite, so get out there and get messy!
Messy Play Encourages Language Development and Communication
This is true of most play with kids, especially when parents or others are engaged. Your kids will begin to talk about what they are doing, or ask questions. They will begin to label things that they are using, or the actions that they are taking. As they get older they’ll be able to describe and really lean into their imaginative play. When working with others (peers or adults) they’ll be able to work together and talk about the things they are doing and work together to decide on next steps. All of this will help to develop their language further.
Messy Play Allows Children to Practice Future Skills
Allowing kids to pour from one container to another gives them the opportunity to practice this skill. At first this is messy, as they will spill everywhere, but eventually they will get better at it. It will surprise you how fast they actually get the hang of it if you let them give it a go! They will learn what happens when you mix different substances (or colors in art). They will learn how to be persistent to make sure they’re play goes the way they want it to. They will develop their fine and gross motor skills depending on the messy activity that you are doing, and they will develop physically. Lastly, and maybe most importantly to you as a parent, they will learn how to clean up! They will learn how to clean their play space and they will learn how to clean themselves. At the end of the day, getting messy is really a win win!
These are really just a few of the benefits. Again, the most important for me is the fun and engagement you all will have! So get out there and get messy! Break out the kitchen utensils and get messy mixing and cooking and experimenting with different foods and materials in the kitchen. Go outside and dig around in the mud or dirt. Garden or build or just dive in and get messy! Get out the paints and art materials and create masterpieces using not just painting materials but your hands or feet, or natural or even alternative materials you wouldn’t usually use in art. Just get out materials and see what happens! Let your little ones get messy and see all the fun, development and learning that they will do!
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