How to… Have fun with messy play

Messy play is vital for children’s development. It’s fun, it’s basic and it can be free. Don’t deprive children of mess simply because of the carpets and the wall paper. It’s not fair. If you shudder at the thought of glitter glue combinations then restrict their usage to garden. After all, warmer weather is on the horizon.

If you have a garden, mud and water is a simple and as fun as you can get activity. Throw in some old flower pots or plastic tubs with a small spade and away they go.

If you don’t have a garden there is always Moon Sand. Better still, if you do have a communal area, or a front garden, then nab a space, get a large, cheap planter from the pound shop and fill it with play sand. Make sure you cover it at night or take it indoors to stop it becoming the local cats’ toilet.

Raid the black box. Boxes, card can all be glued into interesting creations, and be re-recycled at the end of the day.

Plastic food trays that go straight in the bin are great for holding glue, water or paint.

Piles of old magazines or comics can be stripped for collage pictures.

The staple equipment for mess is felt tip pens, paints and crayons. Aim for non-toxic, and pens designed with short round nibs for heavy little hands. Water colour paint will come off of a carpet. The jury is still out on acrylic.

A mess mat is a must, if not one, than two, three or four. Free ones in magazines are just as good, hefty heavy duty ones from toy shops are great for an afternoon of plaster of Paris moulds.

Cheap pound shops are great for getting craft bits really cheaply.

Cooking is another great way of getting hands dirty. Staple ingredients are flour, sugar, eggs and margarine. These will make messy cakes or biscuits. Don’t worry if you don’t have scales, make it up until it looks right. The fun is in spreading the flour and sugar everywhere. Use fun cutters to make shapes. Don’t worry too much if they are from the Playdough set.