Messy Monday: Seashell Washing

Hello! We are getting back in the swing of things after the holidays (still) and I finally got together our first "Messy Monday" activity of the year: Seashell Washing!

If you are a little leery of messy play, this is the activity for you! I love water for "messy" play, because it is cheap, easy, and doesn't usually require a lot of prep work.

Growing up, we always had a "Beach Day" sometime in January. We would turn up the heat, wear our swim suits and do our schoolwork on pool floaties in the living room while listening to the Beach Boys and eating popsicles. That was my inspiration for our activity!

I placed some shells in the bottom of a shallow tub (any bowl or bucket would work fine) and added water. I used warm water, since it is winter and a bit chilly. I set out our trusty kiddie pool with some towels around it, just in case of splashes. I set the tub with the water and shells in the pool with a couple of washcloths and waited for Beatrix to take interest. She was very curious and crawled right over. (Note: it is important to me to create activities for her and "invite" her to participate, not force her to.) I stripped her down to just her t-shirt and plopped her in.

I grabbed a washcloth and started "washing" some shells to give her an idea of what to do and encouraged her to try it as well. She did for a little bit, then moved on to her ideas of how to play with this scenario.

She enjoyed watching water drip off of the washcloth and drip on to her leg.

She loved stirring the shells up and making the water splash out!

She looks soo tired in this picture. She was fighting naps and bedtime yesterday and I don't think she slept very well. Thankfully she wasn't grumpy, just really mellow. After lunch she kept laying on the floor and cuddling Cupcake.

She played with this for about 45 minutes and she appeared to be having a grand time!

This activity could really be done with any water-safe item: rocks, toy animal figurines, even fruits and veggies! I also think it would be fun to use soap to make bubbles - toy dishes washing perhaps? It would be great to do outside in the summer for some cooling-off play. 

Now if only I could get her to wash the dirty dishes in my sink... ;)