What could be more fun for a 7 year old but to get hold of a banana and mash it up with their hands. That's what Tom and I have been getting up to! I wanted to do something with Tom that was a developmental activity. Something where he sees a change in an object. Bananas are great for this as they start of pretty solid and not too messy and then they become super runny and lumpy and very, very messy!
I gave Tom the whole banana and we spent a long time exploring it, feeling the temperature, smelling it and talking about it. Once Tom had explored the whole banana we then decided to mash it up. I supported Tom with this at first as the banana was pretty hard but once it had softened Tom was able to squash it almost independently.
At the moment I am encouraging Tom to play more independently, not on his own because I am always there talking to him and playing with him, but I am trying to encourage independent movement. Tom is very responsive to this and he seems to be enjoying the independence. I will ask Tom to wiggle his fingers in the banana and he will. This is a huge step in communication and I believe that a lot of this is due to his Eye Gaze work supporting independent play.
Messy play is a great way of encouraging movement but also supporting and developing the fine motor skills. Getting the brain to control all 10 of Tom's little fingers is no mean feat! Tom plays a lot in his day, but hidden within every single play activity I ensure that he is learning and developing. What seems to be a very basic play activity such as this is actually being done for more than just to have fun! Albert Einstein once said ''Play is the highest form of research.'' This is a motto Tom and I very much believe in.
Once Tom had mashed the banana we spent time together exploring it again. We were talking about how the texture had changed, how it was much warmer and it smelt a lot stronger. Just because Tom can't talk my language in a conversation this does not stop us having huge chats about all sorts of things. Tom is a very expressive little boy and we have many long deep chats with each other, I just need to learn to speak his language!
One of Tom's most favourite parts of messy play is washing his hands in lovely warm bubble water so this is how we ended this activity. This also helps relax the muscles in Tom's hands after an intense play session.
If you guys have old bananas lying around give it a try. If they are able to eat orally maybe they could incorporate some tasting, I'm sure that would make it a lot of fun!