messy play and food

Lots of people come to messy monkeys because they know their child LOVES to get messy and they want to save their own home from getting trashed – very wise!

Others come because their child is scared to make a mess and they want them to experience getting messy in a relaxed and fun environment that they feel comfortable in with no fear of being told off!

Occasionally we get children who come to us because their aversion to getting messy has spread to the high-chair and they are refusing to do one of the messiest things a baby or toddler can do – eat!

The first experiences a child has of food is overwhelmingly sensory – it’s a chance to explore new textures, discover new smells and get used to new colours.  Many a mum has been heard complaining about how messy their child gets when eating and, whilst a tad frustrating when you are cleaning up the floor and changing an outfit for the umpteenth time that day, it’s a massively important stage of development creating a very positive relationship with food.   Given a relaxed environment to explore eventually they even learn to self feed by realising that some of that ‘stuff’ tastes good when it goes in their mouth!

Messy Play encourages children to have a positive relationship with messy hands and exploring new textures, smells, and colours.  Allowing children the freedom to explore messy gloops and goos has been proven to help children relax when faced with new materials in their highchair aswell… so you could end up with a messy monkey at the dinner table too – sorry!