Messyplay

Messy play exposes your child to different textures and sensations. Here are our top four mess-making games.

PIGGY IN THE MUD

There’s just no substitute for mud when it comes to good, clean messy play. If you don’t have mud at home, get some from a nursery and keep it in a giant plastic clamshell at home.

BAKE MUD PIES Stones, twigs and other items from the garden can double as your cupcake sprinkles and decorations. Your tot can use tools such as old yoghurt or margarine tubs and plastic spades. But best of all is if she uses her bare hands to dig and form a couple of sticky mud confections.

MUD FACE PAINT Put on your oldest swimwear and get painting! Make war paint on each other’s bodies and faces.

ENJOY A MUD BATH Provide suitably wet, slippery mud and let your tot loose in just her panties!

SLIPPERY SLIME

Kids love playing with slime! You can get it from toy shops, but it’s cheap and easy to make at home as well.

DIY SLIME Dissolve one cup of soap shavings (if you can’t get soap shavings, use a cheese grater on a normal bar of soap) into two litres of warm water. Add food colouring if you like. Let the mixture congeal until it’s thick and slimy. Beat it with an egg beater until it foams and pour into a bowl. Keep away from eyes. For a different recipe, add a cup of cold water slowly to two cups flour. Stir until the water is absorbed and add food colouring if desired. You can reuse your slime after it’s dried – crumble it into a powder and gradually add water again. Let your little one loose with funnels, sponges, sieves, egg beaters and spoons from your kitchen for maximum fun!

DRAWING WITH A DIFFERENCE

MAKE SAND ART Mix white sand with different shades of food colouring. Stir until the sand has changed colour and let it dry. Pour the sand onto a flat container, such as a baking sheet with edges. Now make patterns in the sand, or trace it with fingers, hands and other utensils.

PAINT WITH SOAP Mix soap flakes with warm water and beat until the mixture is thick and foamy. Place toddler and soap paint on a plastic sheet and delight in her glee as she covers the plastic with her art.

PAINT WITH FOOD

On a plastic sheet, place honey, ice cream, instant pudding mix or other food items and let your child make food pictures. You can even place a bowl of the mixture near an upright mirror or low window and let her paint there. Encourage her to taste her paint.

MIGHTILY MUNCHY MESSY PLAY The more of their senses children use at messy play, the better.

MAKE EDIBLE TOYS Prepareabowl of cooked spaghetti, instant pudding or jelly and place it outside on a paper-covered surface. If you use

15 to 20 packets of jelly or three to four packets of spaghetti you’ll end up with an amount big enough to allow your tot to climb in and through the food, and be covered top to toe for a full-body sensory experience. Cook the spaghetti for longer than indicated on the packet so that it’s soft, sticky and squishy. You can make different flavours of jelly or scent your spaghetti with essences, or toss it all into a plastic shell for your little one to wriggle into.

Provide large sheets of paper on which she can draw with the jelly, or paste the spaghetti into patterns. Encourage her to tie the noodles into knots or repurpose some into necklaces and bangles.