It got messy...

Yesterday Tom and I decided to get super messy with some angel delight! I chose the butterscotch flavour because I feel this has a really strong scent to it and that adds more sensory to the experience.

The angel delight came out of the fridge so it was pretty cold. I wasn't sure whether Tom would enjoy or even tolerate the temperature so I started with a small amount on his hands and used hand under hand to introduce it to him. Tom responded so well and I was really shocked as to how much he seemed to enjoy playing it seeing as it was so cold.

I let Tom explore independently for a time as he seemed confident enough to play and I enjoy watching him play independently, as it helps me see what he likes and what he doesn't. I think sometimes taking a step back in an activity is really important to just observe and learn.

I wanted to add another aspect to the activity to I decided to use a paintbrush and paint Tom's arms with the angel delight. This got really messy! Also by using a paintbrush and painting angel delight onto Tom it really released the smell.

Tom seemed to enjoy this activity and I was so surprised that he enjoyed playing with it when the temperature was so chilly. The cold seemed to stimulate his muscles and Tom was using a lot of fine motor skills movements with his pincer fingers, this is really encouraging.

As always Tom wasn't the only one to get super messy, I got stuck and on the action as well!

You could change this activity to suit you, you could let the angel delight warm up a little more to room temperature, you could add things for the child to find (like a sensory bin) or you could mix it with something else for example spaghetti.

Tom and I had a lot of fun with this activity and we are definitely going to give it another go!

Give it a try and let me know if you have any other messy ideas, we are forever looking for new things to do.