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Howdy all! I wanted to share a guest post that I did over at the delightful Jump Into A Book blog.
I know April is over, but this is such a fun idea I thought it deserved another look-see. So grab a cuppa joe and a comfy chair and give this a nose-poke.
April marks the Month Of The Young Child. During this month communities are asked to celebrate and recognize the needs of young children and thank educators and others involved in the education and care of young children. The Month of the Young Child is celebrated across the country by hundreds of local organizations working to improve opportunities for all young children. This month-long celebration, communities are encouraged to take the time to explore the world of crafts, reading, and activities.
Basically, The Month Of The Young Child is designed for families with young children to celebrate the enthusiasm, creativity and energy of young children.
And they deserve it too. Being a kid is hard work. Imagine yourself being 7 years old. Every day, Monday through Friday, you go to school. Every day you need to look neat, sit up straight, wait your turn, raise your hand, be patient, be quiet, keep your hands to yourself, don’t run in the hall, use your inside voice, and be somewhere, at a certain time, all day long.
NO wonder my kids are crabby by Friday.
Weekends are a kids natural reward for making it through a long week, but I say, why not “kick it up a notch?” I’m thinking Saturday’s are a perfect opportunity for a “messy morning.”
What’s a messy morning? I could find no real definition anywhere, so I’ll give you mine:
Messy Morning: A messy morning is a Saturday or Sunday morning, when no one is in a hurry, and having fun is #1 on the agenda. Messy Mornings are the mornings when mom turns the other cheek and tells the kids “let er’ buck!” Cleanliness and being tidy are out the window and, for a brief time, it’s OK to make a Big.Stinkin.Mess.
All in the interest of fun of course. Now, all I will say is , since the chances that Mom will be on the Clean Up Committee, it’s best to NOT let the kids go buck wild and keep the “mess” contained to one area. But the idea of messy mornings is to throw all of the sit-up-straight-wait-your-turn-and-pick-up-after-yourself rigidity of the preceding days out the window. Even if it is only for a few hours. Need some ideas in Messy Morning Activities? Well, here ya go:
Bring The Beach Indoors: Fill up a sand tray with jelly beans, baked beans, and dry chickpeas. So many colors to bury and find…bury and find…
Bucket-o-Worms: Whip up a big batch of cooked spaghetti, bury some treasures, and have a no-hands-allowed hunt for treasures. Supply kids with spoons, tongs, and strainers to locate the booty within. And when that get’s boring, lay out some wax paper and encourage your kids to tap into their inner Spaghetti Artist.
Puddin Paintin: Mix up a double batch of Jello Pudding and set out large sheets of wax paper. Children will love using paintbrushes or their fingers to paint with the chocolate pudding, and you don’t have to worry about young kids eating the “paint.”
Painting With Shaving Cream Do Double Duty: Turn your kids loose in the bathtub (without water to start) with a few bowls of cheap shaving cream. Let the shaving cream painting begin! When they’ve had their fill of fun, add water, scrub up your rugrats and gain the bonus of having baths done for the day.
Think this idea is NUTS? Here’s short list of the many benefits of messy play:
- • Develops learning styles
- • Entertains for hours
- • Allows children to play together
- • Less structured
- • Helps children relax
- • Provides Stress relief
- • Stimulates senses
- • Develops hand-eye coordination (excerpt from Steady Mom blog)
Benefit as a family? Everyone takes time to relax, unwind, turn off the computer, create memories, and practice some “slow family time.” Children learn best through exploration and messy play is a key tool in the learning process. Children are our most precious resource. Let’s take some EXTRA time this month and celebrate.
Ten years from now, it won’t matter that the house was a mess for a morning, but it will matter that you created this memory for your family.
Becky Flansburg is the author of Franticmommy and owner of LAMS Communications. Becky is a blogger, writer, virtual assistant, and social media junkie. The main goal of Franticmommy is to telling goofy parenting stories and make other moms laugh, sigh with relief, and think “thank gawd it’s not just ME.” You can reach Becky at rebeccaflansburg@gmail.com
