It cannot be denied that the favourite play in our household is the messy type. They love it and so do I (not the cleaning after I must admit... but it is worth it:) Messy play has a lot of benefits which I will go through another time. But if you want to keep your child/ children occupied for quite a while, this type of play is exactly what you need. You can find pictures and videos about all these types of play in my instagram stories (home activities and messy play)
1. Rainbow spaghetti
Cook the spaghetti. Once it has cooled down, divide into separate plastic bags, add food colouring and squish the bags till all the pasta is coloured. Pour into trays and add cups, thongs, plastic knives, bowls etc and let the fun begin.
2. Goop a.k.a. oobleck
By far our favourite. All you need is cornflour, water and food colouring. You will find measurements on the internet but I find the best way is pouring a whole packet of cornflour in a bowl and slowly adding a bit of water whilst mixing with a fork. It will be hard to mix at first. Also, add some food colouring if you wish. The consistency should be that of a slightly thick liquid which starts to melt when you pour it from a spoon. (The amazing thing about this substance is that it changes between a solid and a liquid during play). If it comes too watery, add more cornflour.
Instead of adding food colouring you can also add cocoa powder and your goop will look like mud. Add dinosaurs to create a dino swamp, pigs to create a pig pool in a farm or cars. If you take this outside, you can also add a tub of water for the kids to wash the toys after.
The trick to cleaning this up is letting it dry (which won't take long). It will turn to dust and you can just sweep it up.
3. Coloured rice
Super easy to prepare and does not involve a lot of preparation. Grab a packet of rice and divide into small plastic bags. Add some drops of food colouring in each bag and mix till all the rice is covered. Once all the rice is dyed, pour it out on tray and let it dry. This is best prepared the night before. Add scoops, metal containers (they love to hear the sound of dry rice pouring down), plastic eggs, funnels etc.
4. Bath paint
For this you need to get some shaving foam, spray into separate cups and add washable kid's paint to each. Grab some paint brushes and they are surely to have a blast using the bath wall as a canvas. Ready? Just grab the water pipe and wash it down.
5. Cloud dough a.k.a moon sand
You will need 8 cups of flour to 1 cup of oil (vegetable oil or even baby oil). Mix with your hands to pinch in the flour so that the oil gets distributed well. The lovely thing about this is that you can form balls and sandcastles with it. Get your child's tea set out, your beach toys, measuring spoons etc.
So there you have it! Messy I must admit but fun! If you are doing these indoors, it would be helpful to place a large plastic tablecloth at the bottom for easy clean up. Always dress your child in an art apron or large t-shirt. And even though it will be messy, I can assure you that the smiles on their faces will surely be worth it.
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