I love a bit of messy play. It’s one of the few things I miss about having toddlers! Over the years I ran lots of different messy play toddler group activities, which the children loved. Here are a selection of my favourites.
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Tip: Where measurements are given in cups, it doesn’t matter what size the cup is as long as you use the same one throughout the recipe.
Cloud Dough (the messiest of messy play toddler group activities!)
I’ll start with a warning, don’t do this unless you have access to a vacuum cleaner! This stuff gets everywhere and you will struggle without one. Cloud dough is amazing stuff, it looks like plain old flour but can be moulded into different shapes in a similar way to kinetic sand.
What you’ll need:
A large bowl
8 cups of flour
1 cup of vegetable oil
Something to put it in for the children to play with it (a set like this* is good and has lots of other uses)
Method
Put the flour and oil into the bowl and mix it well. It has an amazing texture and the children love getting their hands in it. The ingredients are edible so, as long as no one has allergies, it’s not a problem if it makes its way in to a few mouths. I imagine it tastes pretty disgusting so one mouthful should put an end to it!
Play Dough
Play Dough is a classic of messy play toddler group activities. This is mostly because it’s simple and doesn’t actually make that much mess! For a group, it’s much more economical to make your own. I always left mine plain but you can add colours too if you like. My recipe is based on the no cook one used by the Imagination Tree.
What you’ll need
2 cups of plain flour
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Half a cup of salt
2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
1-1.5 cups of boiling water
A large bowl
Food colouring (optional)
Ideally some cutters and rolling pins
Method
Add everything apart from the water and food colouring to the bowl. If you are using food colouring, add it to the water then pour most of it into the bowl. Allow it to cool until you are able to handle it (it should still be hot though) and then knead is until you get a play dough texture, adding a little more water if it seems too dry.
It’s more fun if you have some cutters and rolling pins. I bought lots of rolling pins quite cheaply in my local wilkos. I got some cheap cutters* from Amazon and the kids love these cutting tools*.
Sensory Baskets
These are great if you’ve got babies who can’t yet get involved in proper messy play toddler group activities. While you can buy some amazing sensory baskets which have loads of lovely, natural items in, these are just simple ones filled with safe items that babies don’t usually get there hands on.
What you’ll need
You can include anything you fancy as long as it’s safe, but here are some suggestions:
Wooden spoons
Plastic scourers
Bowls
Tea strainers
Metal spoons
Scraps of material
Kitchen roll tubes
Sponges
Brushes
Hair rollers
Bubble wrap
Empty toothpaste tubes
Empty plastic bottles (you can include needs inside to make a sound)
Method
When I was setting this up I just went to the pound shop and selected packs of things I thought would work. I used plastic baskets because I had them but there’s no reason you couldn’t just put the items on the floor or table. Afterwards it’s a good idea to clean everything, either with antibacterial wipes, in the washing machine or in the dishwasher.
Foam
This one is both super simple and super messy! I remember one parent at my group, who wasn’t really a fan of messy play, saying “Why? Why is this a thing?” The answer is because it’s great fun! (To be fair to him, he always let his little boy play, despite his horror!)
What you’ll need
Lots of cheap shaving foam
Some trays (mine are planting trays*)
Method
You probably won’t have space for all of the children to have a go at once so you might want to do a couple of sittings for this one. It’s great fun to add some small world toys to the trays too. Dinosaurs, animals or cars all work well but anything that can be washed afterwards is fine, foam is basically soap!
Jelly Slime
We did this as a halloween activity so used green jelly and included plastic bugs but you could theme it in other ways. I have to say, of all the messy toddler group activities, this is the one I would be least keen to repeat because everything ended up so sticky!
What you’ll need
Jelly in a colour suitable for your theme
Plastic toys based on your theme
Method
You could set up a few trays but as this was just one of the drop in activities at our Halloween party I only did one. I put the bugs in the jelly before it set which meant they were right at the bottom and the children had a great time getting them out. I would suggest having a hand washing station right next to it, baby wipes just don’t cut it!
Gloop – Cornflour Messy Play
Gloop is an amazing substance that acts like either a solid or a liquid depending what you do with it. It’s a great messy play toddler group activity that’s also a bit scientific. All the ingredients are edible so it’s safe for little ones if they get it in their mouths.
What you’ll need
Two cups of cornflour
One cup of water
Food colouring (optional)
Some trays (again I used my planting trays*)
Method
You’ll want to make the gloop directly in the trays as it’s difficult to move from one container to another. Pour in your flour, add the food colouring (if you’re using it) to the water then pour it on to the flour. You then need to combine it and the best way is with your hands, it can take a while so keep at it until there are no lumps of cornflour left.
Want to find some other activities for your toddler group? Check out our Food Based Toddler Group Activities. If you’d like some guidance on choosing the right messy play toddler Group activities for your group, check out How to Choose Toddler Group Activities. We also have some great general guidance on setting up toddler groups and some suggestions for circle time activities.
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