This blog has been written by Holly at Little Learners Southport. Little Learners is a multi award winning messy play and mark making company with over 30 franchises across the country. Mark making is at the heart of their mission and is the focus for all classes.
Why is messy play so beneficial?
One of the many brilliant benefits of messy play for both parents and practitioners is that messy play is very much child led. At Little Learners, we might set up the trays for them, but then it is totally up to the children how they play and explore. This takes some pressure off us, but it also allows them to develop their imagination and gives us an insight into their preferences and how their little minds tick as they play. Some babies love to just slide around in the mess, some like to use their toes and some love to use tools to make marks.
It doesn’t all have to be wet and messy though! A lot of the dry trays are perfect for exploring early writing and maths opportunities – here’s a little girl exploring capacity, weight and measurement as she pours and scoops coloured oats into bowls with different sized spoons. She doesn’t even realise she’s beginning to explore the world of maths! And another little girl playing with some sorting teddies and looking at colours and sizes. In addition to these skills, they are developing all the usual skills that go along with messy play, such as learning perseverance, developing hand eye coordination and building core strength, fine and gross motor skills.
Mark Making
Mark making is a huge part of your child’s learning journey. It is also one of the outcomes of a prime area of learning – Physical Development (birth to 60 months). When your child starts to make scribbles, patterns and shapes, this is ‘mark making’ . It is often seen as the first step towards writing. Not only this, but your child explores, experiments and expresses themselves through the marks they make. They begin to assign meaning to their marks, which leads to creativity and exploration.
Exploring different textures and materials and grabbing various apparatus will help your child get ready for writing. Encouraging your child to use their hands, fingers, feet and toes to make marks will strengthen their core muscles and develop their motor skills. These skills are vital for holding and controlling a pencil and letter and number formation. All of this can be done during messy play in a fun, exciting and stimulating way!
Children can mark-make in many different ways. Using a pen, paper & paint, ‘messy play’ or even drawing in the sand on the beach. All of these provide opportunities to explore a wide range of tools such as paintbrushes, chalks, pencils and their bodies. The benefits of mark making are clear. Your child’s fine motor skills will develop and strengthen in preparation for writing.
Repetition is key, the more a mark is practised, the more recognisable it will become to the child. The mark making opportunities are appropriate for every type of learner. The way we learn best can be auditory, visual, or kinaesthetic. Little Learners classes, like all good messy play classes, provide resources that are colourful, engaging and eye-catching. We provide a good selection of different textures and surfaces, which are interesting for children to touch and feel. For example, to assist the auditory learner we make sure there is music playing – mark making to the beat!
Final thoughts
Messy play has many benefits, it develops and appeals to all of the senses. It is inclusive and accessible to all children, even those with disabilities or sensory issues. As it is child led and there is such a wide selection of wet and dry trays children can choose a ‘messy’ level they are comfortable with. Some children leave us needing a head to toe bath and some simply require a quick baby wipe to the hands. It is all a personal choice and can be enjoyed in many ways.
Why not try some messy play at home and explore the benefits? Or if you’d rather leave the tidying up to us, check out a Little Learners class in your area.
