Homeschooling & Home: Cook & Splash!
Archived under Homeschooling .
After reading about the importance of messy play, I thought I'd finally give it a go although I was rather reluctant due to the amount of mess that would be made.
For those who are unaware, messy play involves setting an activity or time where a child can play with either sand, water, playdough, or the like. It has been said to have a calming effect on young children and provides them the oppurtunity to explore the properties of different materials and to discover, experiment and sometimes create things.
What I did:
I thought it would be a good idea to keep Junayd preoccupied while I cooked lunch, but also wanted him engaged in an activity which would actually keep him from coming up to me every 5 mins. So I set a chair against the cupboard in front of our kitchen sink, filled the sink about 3/4 with warm water, squirted some washing-up-liquid into it, threw a plastic jug, a plastic beaker and an old plastic fizzy drink bottle in and left him to it while I got on with the cooking.
With the drink bottle I created seive-like holes in it so that when he filled it with water, the water would 'jet' out. He loved it the most, mashaa`Allaah!
There are many ways to adapt the activity, but I liked the fact that the only time he called upon me was to say "Mummy, See!"
Mashaa`Allaah, there were smiles all round.
~ Umm Junayd.
Your Thoughts
Assalamu aleikum.
How old are your children, again? I let mine do the actual washing-up on occasion (it's supposed to be a scheduled task... we're just not so good on following it). My youngest son started when he was perhaps two and a half, and my two year old daughter has done it a couple of times. Especially two-year-olds love it!
I've learned not to get upset about the amounts of water everywhere, lol.
The washing isn't perfect, but it's good training!
Wa 'alaikumus-salaam.
Oum Anas, at the time of writing this I've got one child who is nearly two and a half, mashaa`Allaah. You're right, they really do like this activity, walhamdulillaah. I guess it's just one of the many ways that you can develop different aspects of their learning while getting some housework done!
Inshaa`Allaah I'll be exploring other avenues and as and when I do, I'll post my findings here inshaa`Allaah.
Was-salaamu 'alaikum
~ Umm Junayd.
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Asalaam 'Alaikum:
I've also done this with my daughter - except I put all of her plastic play dishes in the sink and let her pretend to wash her dishes.
She loves it and kept busy the entire time I cooked - in fact, she wanted to do it after I was finished! My only problem is that she spilled water on the hardwood floors - but fixed it by putting a towel beneath her when she does it.
Asalaam 'Alaikum,
Sumayyah Umm Sadiqah wa Asma