Messy Tots
The Benefits of Messy Play for a Child’s Physical Development
Fine Motor Skills
Messy play helps young children develop their early motor skills. When children squeeze soft dough, scoop up sand or make marks in crazy foam, they are learning to refine their fine motor skills by using the muscles in their fingers, wrists, arms, toes and shoulders to make small movements. Children also practice coordinating their fine motor skills by combining muscles together when picking up different objects throughout messy play.
Muscle Strengthening
When children practice fine and gross motor skills in messy play, they are strengthening their muscles and developing muscle control in their body. Introducing children to a variety of messy play activities will build up strength in their different muscle groups. Mark making in paint helps children improve the muscles in their hands and fingers, which also prepares them for holding a pencil and controlling these movements for writing, whereas, activities such as stomping in mud will strengthen the muscles in their legs.
Hand Eye Coordination
Experimenting with messy play through touch also enhances the children’s hand-eye coordination. Certain messy play activities prompt and improve children’s concentration, such as cutting shapes out of play-doh or throwing goo at a target, which helps children develop their hand-eye coordination.
Body Control & Balance
Messy play is an extremely hands-on sensory activity, which enhances children’s body control and balance through the large and small movements that they make when they play. Simple actions, such as holding a paint brush over an easel or pouring water from one container to another, helps children focus their fine and gross motor skills, which improves their control and balance with practice.
Spatial Awareness
Messy play also makes children more body aware, which gives them the opportunity to learn about boundaries. When participating in group messy play activities, such as playing imaginative play kitchens with outdoor mud kitchens, children begin to begin to respect other’s space and develop social skills.
Our sessions
• Thursdays 12:30
• 4 week block £26 (sibling discount £44 for 2 children)
• One of sessions £7 each (sibling discount £11 for 2 children)
• Each week has a different theme
We will begin our session with a welcome song to introduce everyone. This will be followed by the messy play which includes 6 different stations for your children to explore. To end the session, we will sing various nursery rhymes and enjoy the bubbles from our bubble machine.
You are welcome to arrive earlier than the session start time and stay afterwards to play in our play café and purchase food and drinks. You will need to bring a towel and a change of clothing to all sessions. All payments must be paid upfront to secure your place. Block bookings will be given a holiday day if 24 hours’ notice is given. This can be taken at another time.
T-shirts or press stud vests with the Messy Tots logo on are available to purchase at a cost of £8.95. If you would to purchase one to wear at the session please let me know.
