Messy play can be one of those things we prefer to do outside the home – someone else cleans it up afterwards!
But a good messy play session doesn’t have to mean splashing your floors with paint, glue and squished-up food.
Kirsty from The Little Box Company in Sowerby Bridge has kindly shared five messy play activities to help entertain your little ones at home – with minimal mess afterwards!
These activities refer to a tuff spot (sometimes called a tuff tray or play tray), but you don’t need a tuff spot to join in – they can all be done on any flat surface.
There are also suggestions to take each activity further, for example with small world play (imaginative play with small toys) and the activities are all cheap and easy to set up at home.
Let us know your favourites in the Calderdale Mumbler Chat Group, or by following the Calderdale Mumbler News Page.
Dig out items from your recycling box – such as pots, rolls, boxes, milk cartons, bottle tops and ribbons – and place them in the centre of the tuff spot.
Surround them with pots of paint, glue and other craft accessories, and the children will be able to create models.
You can take this activity further by creating scenes for small world play, such as a garage for cars.
Create playdough using the recipe provided, and place several large balls of it on the tuff spot. Surround it with rolling pins, plastic knives, moulding equipment, pots full of beads, pipe cleaners and spring shapes. Children can create beautiful playdough eggs and decorate them with the accessories provided. This activity could be adapted for other seasons or events, such as birthdays and bonfire night.
Playdough recipe:
8 Tbsp plain flour
2 Tbsp table salt
60ml warm water
Food colouring
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
Using spare cereals from the breakfast cupboard, pour out piles of cereal across the tuff spot and add toilet rolls, tubes, sticks and diggers. Watch the digger wheels create tracks in the cereal and enjoy pouring and emptying. You can take this activity further by adding numbers and letters underneath the cereal and using the diggers to find and identify each one.
The Bug HotelDig soil from the garden and spread it across your tuff spot. Add a large box filled with tubes, pots, twigs and leaves to create a bug hotel. You can also include small world bugs, buckets, spades, tweezers and real or fake flowers to extend small world play.
Take this activity further by exploring local green areas and woodland for bugs and other wildlife.
Separate a tuff spot into four sections and place a different coloured sheet of card in each section. Set a timer for five minutes and allow the children to search the house for objects that match the colour of their card. Take this activity further by creating rainbow pictures and displaying them in your window for children to find on their walks.
For more useful tips and fun ideas for coping during lockdown, visit our At Home With Kids page, jam-packed with useful information and resources.
