Recipes for Messy Play

A review of Recipes for Messy Play, from New Shoots Publishing.

Read More

What a beautiful reinvention of the ECE staple Recipes for Messy Play (New Shoots Publishing), now updated and expanded. It is full of ideas for messy play that are easy to create, have clear and simple instructions, and provide a great range of experiences and opportunities for sustained open-ended play. It is visually beautiful and has a focus on sustainability with suggestions on how to reuse messy play while keeping it fresh and inviting (a particular favourite was the ice chalk from reused gloop). Use of te reo Māori throughout the book gives handy ideas of phrases and concepts to use while working alongside children.

Along with a great variety of messy play ideas, I appreciated the links to why this is an important part of our ECE curriculum, and the stepping out of the kinds of skills children gain from this play.

It was easy to then make links to Te Whāriki: “Their play is valued as meaningful learning and the importance of spontaneous play is recognised” (Te Whāriki, page 25) and “an understanding that trying things out, exploring, playing with ideas and materials and collaborating with others are important and valued ways of learning” (Te Whāriki, page 47). This would also be helpful for documentation and public display of learning.

The What Adults Can Do section gives suggestions on how to support children in their exploration of messy play that are open-ended and authentic. This would be especially useful to adults new to providing these experiences. This book is fun and practical, and would be a great addition to any educator/parent library or art-room shelf. – Donna Eden

Related Posts

Five hopes for my moko

Jasmine Taankink (Ngā Mahanga-a-Tairi) is a second language speaker of te reo Māori committed to the intergenerational transmission of te reo in her whānau and community. She shares with us her hopes for her three moko.

Read More

Shaping futures – the power of qualified kaiako 

Qualified early childhood teachers bring deep knowledge, intentional teaching and powerful relationships that shape children’s futures. Ako hears from kaiako across Aotearoa about the life-changing difference their study has made, and why tamariki deserve nothing less than skilled, thoughtful educators from the very start.

Read More

Education superhero: Sally Griffin

In this series, we celebrate the extraordinary mahi of educators across Aotearoa, whose passion and purpose shape the future every day. This month kindergarten head teacher Sally Griffin answers 12 questions about her unique powers.

Read More

Why Budget 2025 is anything but a vision

It’s often said that a nation’s budget reflects its values. If that’s true, then Budget 2025 tells us undeniably that children, especially our youngest tamariki, are not a priority.

Read More