Messy play

Messy play is particularly helpful with children who have feeding difficulties as it desensitizes them to the smell and texture of foods as well as removing the fear of new foods. The aim is to remove the stress around food and to present it in a non-threatening way. Play is the natural way for a child to learn. It is important to allow your child to dictate the pace of the activity.

Never force your child to put their hands in a mixture. If they are unsure, use spoons or lolly sticks. Small toys can be used to encourage fingers into touching new textures. If your child is very reluctant then leave that particular mixture for a while and try something else.

Messy play using food ingredients

It is often best to start with dry textures and gradually build up to wet materials which a child may find harder to tolerate.

Pasta

This can be used as both cooked and uncooked.

Uncooked tubes, shells or alphabet shapes can be threaded to make necklaces or glued to paper and painted.

Add food colouring to cooked pasta and turn out into a tray to cool.

Add small toys e.g. animals, dinosaurs, characters to cooked pasta.

Spaghetti has a very challenging texture and can be unsuitable for use with children who are very aversive to new textures.

This can be used for:

• Jungles or fields
• Mixed with water to make a witches stew
• Use blue food colouring with spaghetti placed in a bowl or paddling pool with toy sea creatures.
• Cut with scissors to be fed to dolls

Lentils/semolina

• Dry lentils can be stuck on collages or placed in a tray and used in the same way as sand.
• Lentils can be soaked overnight and then drained and used with cars and lorries.
• Semolina does not need overnight soaking but can make a very effective swamp by adding cold water and food colouring. Good with dinosaurs.

Cereals

• Shredded wheat crumbled makes excellent straw for a farm.
• Crushed Weetabix mixed with a little water creates realistic mud for toy animals. Encourage your child to add the water, experiencing the contrast from dry to wet texture.
• Rice Crispies are good with vehicles as they can be loaded on and off and moved around with diggers.
• Rice Crispies make good beaches (alongside jelly sea) for play people.
• Feed dry cereals to toy animals.
• Cornflakes can be used to make landscapes for dinosaurs or small animals. Add water to create different textures.
• Floating cornflakes on a tray of water and use straws to blow to the end of the tray in a race.
• Making a game of transferring cornflakes from one plate to another only using a straw.

Mashed potato

Instant mashed potato is very versatile for use in messy play. It can be mixed to different consistencies by adding water and coloured with food colouring.

• Create a swamp with warm water. Add colouring to make patterns.
• Used like play dough to make caves, hills, roads.

Remember that the mixture needs to be cool enough to touch.

Bowls and spoons can be used if your child is reluctant to touch.

Alternatively encourage your child to mould the mixture into sausages and other food shapes to feed to dolls etc.

Cornflour and water slime

This is a special mixture which most children find fun, despite some initial reluctance. It looks like a liquid but it can be rolled into a ball. However as soon as you stop squeezing it returns to a liquid.

• Put a layer of cornflour over the base of a large flat tray. Gradually add water, mixing in lumps with fingers until you have a thick paste consistency.
• Children can add food colouring in drops and create swirling patterns with their fingers.
• Use lolly sticks first if the child is unsure but it is important to encourage them to use their fingers.
• Combine with spoons, bowls, small animals, fingers.

Custard or Angel Delight

Custard or Angel Delight can be poured into a shallow tray. Add animals or small toys for your child to find.

Fingerprints can be made on paper.

Chocolate fingerpainting

• Melt chocolate and use to finger paint onto greaseproof paper.
• Mix chocolate powder with syrup or honey for a more sticky texture.

Jelly

This can be lovely to play with but can be very challenging for some children so should be used with care.

• Add food colouring to make ponds in a farm.
• Bury small toys in the jelly before it sets and then dig out with fingers. Use spoons if reluctant at first.
• Cars and lorries can be driven through a tray of jelly to make roads.
• Encourage squeezing through their fingers to make squelching noises. Who can make the most disgusting noise!
• Build up by tapping the surface, moving on to slapping and poking.
• Explore the texture and smell.
• Spread on a tray and make patterns.

Cooking

• Allow your child to mix ingredients with their fingers if they want to. A spoon can always be used afterwards to achieve the correct consistency.
• Do not push a reluctant child. Allow them to use spoons if they wish
• Give a running commentary to help arouse interest, referring to smell, texture, what it looks like etc.
• If your child becomes concerned about mixture on their hands, reassure them but do not make a fuss. Simply rub off and say you will wash when you finish.
• Do not over-praise your child if they succeed in touching the mixture.
• Always let your child dictate the pace. Do not force at any time.
• The most important aim is to encourage your child to use their hands rather than spoons whenever possible.
• Licking fingers is positively encouraged!

Cooking ideas

• Simple biscuits – decorate when cooked
• Chocolate crispy cakes
• Fudge
• Fruit kebabs – also combining with marshmallows or cheese for contrast
• Chocolate dips
• Cheese straws
• Sandwiches
• Bread rolls/different shapes with fresh dough

Please email the paediatric feeding team for more information.