Ways you can help yourchild to <strong>play</strong>To make the activity easier• Do not rush through the steps.• Use a shallow tray and large toys.• Get brothers and sisters involved.• Use tools to pick up the toys (forexample, a spoon, spade or tongs).To make the activity harder.• Increase the number of toys you hide.• Bury the toys deeper or make thecontainer larger.• Increase the number of otherchildren joining in the activity.Other activities you could try• Making faces using dry foods ormaterials and a glue stick• Handling pretend plastic foodand real food that is hard and dry(for example, unpeeled carrots,potatoes, apples, bananas)• Putting hard and dry objects intofeely bags• Treasure hunts• Linking <strong>play</strong> into seasonal themes(for example, Christmas, Diwali,festivals and holidays)
Messy <strong>play</strong> –stage twoAimTo confidently explore soft andtextured materialsWhat you will needTexture books (you can make theseyourself or buy them), vegetable orsponge shapes, paint in shallow traysWords you can use during <strong>play</strong>Names of objectsPaint, potato, carrot, pepper, broccoli,sponge, star, cotton reel, book, pageAction wordsFeeling, touching, printing, pressing,looking, turning, squeezing, stroking,rubbingDescriptive wordsFurry, shiny, smooth, rough, bumpy,warm, cold, squashy, squishy,, fast,slow, soft, hard, gentlySteps along the way (remember,this may take many weeks)Step one – your child watches youprint or touch texturesStep two – your child holds your armwhile you print or touch texturesStep three – your child directs yourhand to print or touch texturesStep four – your child presses ortakes away the vegetable or spongeto print, or turns a page of the bookStep five – your child uses a cleanvegetable or sponge to print, ortouches some textures in the bookStep six – your child uses anyvegetable or sponge to print morethan once, or touches all the texturesin the bookWhat to doShow the child the materials anddemonstrate how the activity works.Use simple language such as ‘inpaint’, ‘press shape’, ‘made pattern’or ‘ahh, soft, furry cat, and roughcrocodile’. Encourage your child tojoin in. Never force the child to touchthe textures, but follow the abovesteps along the way. Go at the child’space. Finish the activity before thechild loses interest or gets distressed.
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