Mumbler Becky and her little boy, Alistair checked out Splat Messy Play … here’s what they thought!!
Alistair and I went along to the Splat Messy Play session at Primrose Hall in Horbury and had a really fun afternoon. All the activities are specially created and inspired by different themes such as seasons, special holidays etc. and when we went it was a Valentines themed session.
This is a new class addition to Wakefield and Dewsbury, and Kirsty is running a few one off sessions over the next couple of weeks before some more regular sessions start up. She also offers birthday parties too! The sessions are suitable for pre-schoolers of any age, although I’d say children aged from about 6 months up to about 3 would probably enjoy it the most.
When everyone arrived the children played with bubbles whilst Kirsty explained the different stations and then we were free to explore. There were six different messy play activities, some messier than others. My daughter was never a fan of messy activities and always took some coaxing but Kirsty had provided biscuit decorating and a sensory ‘gift wrapping’ activity to entice even the most cautious toddler.
Alistair, who is not averse to a bit of mess got stuck in straight away. There was homemade playdough to roll, cut and model. There was a particularly messy ‘cake making’ activity involving a flour and water mixture that the younger babies seemed to enjoy exploring. Our favourite activity was the chocolate play which was chocolatey water and different vessels for pouring and decanting. By the end of the session Alistair had fully embraced the sensory experience and was sat bathing in it, happy as…a toddler in mud.
After about 45 minutes, Kirsty provided lots of buckets of hot soapy water for the children to have a wash (or bath if they were small enough). Everyone had luckily brought a change of clothes and we then sat on the mat and had a short song and said goodbye.
We really enjoyed this session. I really liked that the activities were homemade (from the biscuits, playdough, and ‘grass’) and therefore (technically) edible for those children who like to eat/chew everything. I also liked that the children could participate at their own pace and get as messy as they wanted to (or not).
For more information on booking a Splay Messy Play session …. click here
Disclaimer: Mumbler was invited along to review Splat Messy Play and was paid for this, however, all comments are from the reviewer and are an honest and accurate account of their visit to the Splay Messy Play.