#18 - My 3 Favorite Messy / Sensory Play Activities

Welcome back to the Food Explorers Podcast. I’m excited to change it up a little today.

We spent the entire month of March really delving deep into sensory processing, and I’m ready for a change.

Today I thought I would share with you my 3 absolutely favorite sensory/messy food play activities.

These are the activities I personally come back to time and time again, and love doing myself. And of course, you know I’ll also tell you why AND give you tips.

As on OT I made sure to choose ones with different textures, and different sensations because variety is so helpful for the sensory system. 

So first: for those of you who are maybe a little newer to my Instagram (@drsamgoldman) or my podcast - what is sensory or messy play?

I consider sensory play, play that stimulates the senses. Which is kind of funny because all play stimulates the senses, but I like to think of this as more purposeful. Like when you design an activity to purposefully stimulate certain senses.

Messy play is just that. It’s play that helps your child learn and acclimate to being messy. It’s inherently sensory play because it stimulates the tactile, or touch sense (and sometimes other senses as well). Whether then be something with crumbs, something that is sticky, or something that leaves a residue on the hands.

Ok, ready? These are in no particular order, because they are different textures, some are edible, some are not, so I use them for different purposes.

1. Mr. Bubbles Foam Soap: If I had to choose only a couple things I could keep on an island with me for messy play Mr Bubbles foam soap is one of them. If you haven’t seen this before My bubbles foam soap is foamy soap, in a pressurized can. It comes in a variety of colors AND it is scented. So immediately, we are activating the visual, the touch, and the smell sense.
   
   So why I love this SO much. #1 its a mess free activity. So this is something you can use in the bathtub. I’ll spread it on the walls of the bathtub, or put it on toys, and you just wash it with water and you are done. Many kids with sensory sensitivities do better starting here because they want to be clean, and this gives them the immediate ability to do so after touching a challenging texture.
   
   This texture also tends to be a harder texture for children. It’s not one that we naturally come across in the world, so it’s a very different, fluffy texture. But children who have trouble eating things like frosting, purees, etc can benefit from practicing this on their hands. Of course, this is not an edible product, we don’t eat it, but it’s a really fun one to practice. It’s also perfect for practicing shapes and letters in a fun way.
   
   
2. Pudding: I know, i know. This one is not as clean. But honestly I just think it is SO fun. I love messy play with pudding. Usually I will get some kind of plastic tablecloth or a reusable tarp and dump the pudding on top of it. We will pretend it’s mud and drive cars through it, put broccoli as trees in it, and make flowers out of colorful foods. If it’s not a chocking hazard for your child, it’s also fun to get the gummy worms and put them in the mud.
   
   Why I love this: Purees are challenging textures for many kids to eat, and to have on their hands. But pudding is often the least challenging because it’s not lumpy, it’s chocolatey and sugary, and it’s not sticky. Sticky and lumpy tend to be a lot harder for children. To minimize the mess, you can also take your tarp outside and hose it down after. I would also plan this activity for before bath time, so you can stick your child right into the tub.
   
   
3. Freeze-dried fruit sand: You can take any freeze-dried fruit, put it into a blender, and pulverize it into sand. Then you can add it to a bin with some toys, and let your child have fun! I like that this is an edible option, that’s not a chocking hazard (since the sand is fine-ground) instead of rice bins. Plus, it’s a really fun and non pressure way to introduce new fruits to your kids. If you want to get them extra involved, you can put the freeze-dried fruit into a ziploc bag and give them a toy hammer to smash it with to make the sand.

So there you have it, three really simple messy/sensory play activities I love and consistently come back to. If you give them a try, make sure to tag me @DrSamGoldman on Instagram so i can cheer you on! 

And for more sensory food play activities. Check out my Food Explorers Membership. Every month I provide my members with a brand new sensory activity they can do with their kids at home.

And to make it even easier for parents to participate, we’ve now added texting! Parents in the membership can get their weekly education and activities right to their phone, so they can learn and implement on the go. 

Go to www.drsamgoldman.com/food-explorers-membership to get started. I’ll see you there!

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