Painting is always messy and we love to include it as one of the messy play activities with our child. A lot of us are afraid of messy play and we limit it to once to twice a month only when we have the time to do the clean up after that. However, is always important to understand that messy play is extremely important for child development. Having it 2-3 times weekly is great but let’s get real here, I would say 1-2 times weekly is okay.
Messy play encourages children to interact and try out new texture of items, new way of problem solving and others great benefits which will then helps on severals development including speech, sensory, curiosity, creativity and so many more. I do understand that cleaning up is a nightmare but try to do it once a week and you can check out my previous post here on some tips to make painting with your child much more easier and hopefully you will like it. In that post I shared on my favourite paint to use and also how do I usually set up the painting space and what are the little things I did during the process.
In this post I would like to share some of the tips for messy play and activities that Little E enjoyed the most and still find it very exciting whenever we do it.
Tips and Guide for Messy Play:
1. Put on Clothes that You Don’t Mind Losing
Yes, you heard me right. I know what you want to ask, “Can i not just put my child on an Art Smock?” Yes if your child is willing too but do keep in mind the art smock is only for the top half of their body and knowing some younger toddler might be activate, sometimes that art smock doesn’t really matters anymore.
I usually have a few pairs of messy art clothes for Little E. I will put him on those when I plan to have messy play with him that day.
2. Keep the Paints
I am not going to lie saying that Little E will not cry and asked for more paint, yes he will and it always ended up wasting a lot of paint unused. If you are doing this with a young toddler you need to setup before your toddler knows. Keep all the extra paint and only allow them to work with what they have on the table. Little E always ask for more colours and ended up not using it all. Kids got really excited withe the colours and they will ask for more. So be prepared, set things up and keep the paints at a place they can never find.
3. Please have lots of Patience
Before you start planning for any messy play with your child, tell yourself a hundred times IT IS GONNA BE MESSY! Yes, please be mentally prepared for this and do not snap at you kids while they are having fun.
5 Fun Messy Painting to do at Home
1. Vegetables and Fruits Stamping
I used to think this activity is a waste of food and the worst part is your child might only be playing it 30 minutes or less. Wasting good food is a big no no to me, thus I will recommend you to use your kitchen scraps for this. No point wasting perfecting good food when they just experimenting.
2. Old Fashioned Abstract Painting
Let your child go wild with the paint. Allow them to explore and experiment on using different brushes, sponge and other materials to paint on. Children usually love this activity and I will recommend not to do it together with them on the same piece of paper, let them start with a fresh paper and try not to interrupt. They will find a way to use the painting equipments.
3. Cup Dripping
This is one of the messiest, I suggest to do it outdoor. Poke a few holes at the bottom of some paper cups and pour some paint into the cup. Your child will move the cup and drip the paint on the paper of you can even use cardboard. I always cut my parcel boxing and lay them flat for Little E on this activity.
4. Finger Painting
Some children might not be drawn by this because it will dirty their hands from start. Little E refused to do this when he was younger and only got used to it when he turned 3. This is a fun activity to do it together as a family (just make sure you have a huge piece of paper). Do make sure you are getting toxic free paint and it will be even better to use face paint as your child is directly touching the paint for this.
5. Ice Painting
Another fun activity to do but I suggest to do it on sunny days as you child might get wet by doing this. To prepare is so simple by just add water and some paint into an ice cube tray with a stick for them to hold on. This simple activity is fun and is much more suitable to play with it outdoor as the cleaning process will be easier and will avoid any of your carpets or laminated floorings get wet but indoor is fine as well.
Hope you will give it a try and i would like to hear the feedbacks from you!