Parents should avoid trying to entertain their children. Let them initiate and organise their own games – the more mess, the better, writes SYLVIA THOMPSON.
THERE IS a lovely story in John Thomson’s book, Natural Childhood, that neatly encapsulates what works best for children during messy play.
In one scenario, there is a busy father constructing an elaborate sandcastle with his three children who are enlisted as carriers of water while he builds.
His enthusiasm for his sandcastle reigns supreme and he gets annoyed if the children spill the water. Soon they grow tired and move on to something else.
Nearby, two children are digging troughs for themselves to lie in while their parents relax in the sun. To further entertain themselves, they decide to trace lines around their parents’ outstretched bodies.
Of course, the two children in the second scenario could have just as easily ended up squabbling among themselves but the point is clearly made that the key value of messy play is to be found in its exploratory, non-directed nature.
“A child initiates and organises his own play activities and it’s the role of parents to provide a rich environment of resources so as not to inhibit natural learning,” writes Mildred Masheder, teacher and contributor to Natural Childhood.
Sand, play dough, water and paints are some of the best materials for exploratory play. The tactile, flowing nature of both water and sand is calming and deeply stimulating for young children. Similarly, the colours and textures of paint and play dough offer children creative and tactile experiences. The ultimate messy play experience can be had from slime or gloop, a mixture of water, food colouring and flour that is best made and played with outdoors.
According to Masheder, parents should avoid trying to entertain children or think up ideas for them during playtime. “Don’t feel that if they are left to their own devices they will be bored,” she writes. “Children know what they want and what is right for them. Even encouragement needs to be low-key when children are young although praise is necessary for well-accomplished skills.”
The value of messy play was also stressed recently by Irene Gunning, the chief executive of the Irish Pre-School Play Association. “Real play is messy, it’s noisy and a lot of people want to short-cut that.”
So, if as a parent you find yourself avoiding giving your children the chance to play with play dough because you don’t want to pick up sticky play dough from the floor afterwards or paints because you don’t like their clothes getting paint stained, think again.
“It’s understandable that parents don’t want messy play in their homes because things can get dirty in small living spaces yet if you keep messy play in one area of the house, it can work very well,” says Catherina Flood, project co-ordinator for the Early Learning Initiative at the National College of Ireland (NCI).
Earlier this month, the initiative organised the first of four sessions of messy play to which they invited parents and children from local parent and toddler groups.
Flood and others at NCI set up a paddling pool with sand, a ball pond, various basins of coloured water, play dough, a painting area and plates of gloop in the arts garden in the courtyard of NCI. The children were given free rein to play as they wished and the adults were encouraged to join in.
“It may seem like a big mess but the children are learning about textures, consistencies and smells. As adults, we forget that they learn concepts of solids and liquids by repeating actions and linking them to things they already know,” says Flood.
“It’s important that children have control over the play and that they have lots of time to wander around, doing different things. As adults, the best thing we can do is offer them lots of different materials to play with,” says Flood.
Olivia Fallon is a play specialist in Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. She says messy play is particularly valuable for children who can’t leave their wards due to risk of infection. “It’s great for them because it reduces anxiety and boredom. It gives them an outlet to express their emotions and gives them a sense of control and a sense of fun too,” she explains.
Fallon says that messy play works for children of all ages. Painting is a particular favourite activity. “We also use cornflour and water, pasta, rice, clay and Plaster Paris which we make animals out of,” she explains. “Children are in a very clinical environment in hospital and messy play offers them opportunities to move out of this restrictive environment.”
The value of messy play
- Watch children playing with empty shampoo bottles in the bath and see how they are learning the fundamentals of volume and capacity by simply filling up and emptying the bottles.
Young children also learn about how liquid flows when they play at the kitchen sink with colanders, sieves and plastic jugs.
- When on walks outdoors, young children who can safely explore puddles, ponds, streams, waterfalls and shallow sea water will learn valuable lessons about keeping their own balance when faced with different depths and water flow.
- Sand pits offer tremendous opportunities for learning how different objects can hold different amounts, how wet the sand needs to be to stay in shape and how a heavier load on the top of a sandcastle will collapse the entire structure. The beach itself is just one massive sand pit for young children.
- Paints offer huge potential for free expression. Give children good sturdy paint brushes, large sheets of strong paper, pots of primary colours (blue, red and yellow are enough) and a clear table or floor space.
- Teachers in playschools and junior infant classes recognise the social and creative value of play dough.
Rolling, cutting out and making shapes in different coloured play dough is a more organised form of messy play.
Yet, the tactile nature of play dough coupled with the instinctive urge to break it up and start again teaches children that they can be flexible and that no matter what they make, it can always be re-shaped into something else.