Encouraging Messy Play

Finding Creativity, Learning, and Fun in Mess!

There’s no doubt about it — being a child is messy business! As a parent, it’s easy to get upset or frustrated by your little one coming home looking a bit disheveled, or even by creating a bit of chaos at home with their online preschool or Montessori homeschool curriculum. However, it can honestly feel a bit damaging to be told as a child “don’t get messy!” Many of us likely remember parents, teachers, or relatives who made being clean appear more important than expressing ourselves and learning more about the world around us.

What’s more, there can actually be a lot of benefits to messy play! Even after numerous stains, paint clean-ups and more, it’s so important to know that your little one is exploring and, most importantly, learning through these sensory activities! 

Just as babies learn through putting things in their mouths to explore the world around them, children learn through hands-on experiences.  Messy play doesn’t have to be a negative thing, even for you! Try to alter your expectations and organize the learning space to allow for sensory activities for toddlers through controlled messy play. Set firm boundaries beforehand and preview them with your child.

For parents with a limited amount of space or no outdoor settings in which mess can fly free, it may be challenging to encourage this. The online preschool environment, especially Montessori homeschool curriculum, blends school with home, which can make it difficult to determine how to encourage this kind of learning while making sure the rest of the house can function as needed! However, it is actually quite simple to set up a space that will ensure your little one can explore their sensory activities as needed, all while being able to keep the rest of the home as it was. If you’ve set up a learning corner for your little one’s Montessori homeschool curriculum, you’re already a step ahead! If not, try to determine a space in your house or apartment that can be solely your little one’s; this is also something that can help them distinguish a sort of work-home boundary if they are part of an online homeschool program! As you set up their learning space for sensory activities for toddlers, you can also add things that you know will protect your home’s status quo — for example, if your little one is a regular Picasso, you can set up supplies like a painting tarp, washable paint, and lots of Magic Erasers! When they ask to paint, you can simply sit with them, not stand over them warning them to “stay clean, don’t get messy.” It’s a front row seat to watching your child create art, and you can listen as they tell you about their artwork.  It allows your little one to be creative in storytelling as well as art — building those language skills!

With the addition of online preschool platforms and Montessori homeschool curriculum, there’s an even finer line between allowing your child to have creative freedom and also setting boundaries when it comes to messy home play. Something we suggest that will help you set boundaries appropriately is previewing what is “allowed” as part of their sensory activities.  This is something you and your family need to agree on — what works for one family might not work for yours, and that’s okay!  The boundaries you set around painting indoors have to be something you feel comfortable with. For example, if you know that when they paint, your little one will inevitably end up with paint on their hands, arms, or even their whole body, you can sit with how you feel about that. If you are all right with it, you can create a process for cleaning up in a way that doesn’t feel totally negative, such as having your little one go straight to the shower when their sensory activities are done.  However, you can also help your child learn that if the paint becomes airborne, or if it becomes a safety issue, then they must stop. It can be a good idea to give a warning, and caution them to be mindful of their surroundings when painting!

Try Our Online Preschool for FREE! Playgarden Prep offers numerous educational videos from real teachers, and numerous DIY projects that support early learning and development through Montessori homeschool curriculum and includes many other sensory activities for toddlers!