1. Supports Cognitive Development

Messy play and sensory play support your little one’s cognitive development - the ways they think, explore and figure things out. It offers your child a chance to figure things out for themselves! Every time they solve a problem, they reinforce that ability and build self-confidence. Messy play also offers a fun chance for kids to learn cause and effect through observation and hands-on experience. By exploring the physical materials, small children develop spatial awareness too.

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2. Fosters Math Skills

Messy play and sensory play also develops and nurtures your little one's math skills - laying the foundation for a lifetime of important math concepts. Engaging hands-on activities offer opportunities to count and measure which is much more fun than counting by rote and demonstrates the real-life application of math! Your kids will also identify and describe shapes, practice matching, and compare objects, all which are early steps in recognizing patterns and learning numbers.

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3. Lays A Foundation In Science

To a child, chemical reactions look like magic! You can encourage that fascination while also building understanding of underlying and foundational science principles. Messy and sensory play engage your child’s scientific curiosity and development. Through play, your child will learn about physical properties, chemical reactions, experimentation, and how to make predictions and observe results - the core of the scientific method!

⇨ Science isn’t just for older kids! Curious children of all ages who love to tinker can excel by learning preschool science concepts. 

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4. Encourages Social Development

Social development is the way children connect with others and learn to get along. When kids engage in messy play with others, they learn to collaborate to solve problems together. They will communicate (verbally and non-verbally) to achieve their messy goal. They'll also learn to share tools and space. Messy play is fun for your kid and it helps support your child’s social development too.

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5. Creates A Sense Of Responsibility

We all want our kids to grow up to be confident, independent, and responsible. Sensory and messy play support your child as they develop a sense of responsibility, which will help them feel more confident and secure. Watch your child develop a sense of accomplishment as they learn to follow age-appropriate instructions and learn to abide by rules and boundaries. Involve your child in messy play setup and clean up to empower them with self-help skills and reinforce healthy patterns of cleaning up after play in the future (which means less cleaning up for you!)!

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6. Improves Fine Motor Skills

Another messy play and sensory bin benefit is improving your child’s fine motor skills. There are plenty of interesting objects and kid-sized tools for your child to grasp. Facilitate your child’s physical development, including hand-eye coordination, grasp strength, dexterity, and pinching and while they use the muscles in their wrists, hands, and fingers to squeeze, scoop, pour, and pick up objects. These fine motor skills lay the foundation for pencil grip and writing skills in the future.

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7. Promotes Creativity

Inspire curiosity and foster creativity with messy play using open-ended art and craft materials. Messy play is explorative and spontaneous -- there is no scripted story or prescribed action that your child must take. Open-ended play can support flexible thinking, resilience, and independence! Focus on the process of creating art to allow your child to discover their own techniques without feeling pressure to create a particular thing.

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8. Nurtures Language Skills

Messy play can also support your child’s linguistic development. As your child plays, narrate their actions and describe what they’re doing. This teaches them to use words for description and introduces new vocabulary. Describe your child’s messy play session using the senses - discuss color, temperature, texture, weight, shapes, smells, hardness, patterns, sounds, etc. Experiencing the meaning of these words firsthand will help your child understand them.