By Rhiane Kirkby
Does your toddler like books, storytime and generally making a mess? I’m pretty confident the answer to at least one of those questions is ‘yes’. My two-year-old is a real bookworm and loves nothing more than digging up the garden (much to his father’s dismay); playing with water, mud and sand; and covering himself in paint, felt tips and anything else that generally sends mummy reaching for wipes and ultimately a bucketful of cleaning products!
With most of our usual activities taking a summer break, I stumbled upon a new class—Messy Books for toddlers. I’d heard lots of people raving about the baby version of this class, which has been run by Wendy Watkins in Chiswick, Barnes and Northfields for over a year now, so I was keen to give it a try.
Each class is themed around a popular children’s story—Tiddler, Mr Gumpy’s Boat, Meet the Parents, The Hungry Caterpillar, to name but a few. Wendy reads the story to begin with and then lets the children loose on the messy play stations around the room—each one imaginatively linked to the book in some way. There’s paint, water, sand, food, bubbles and slime—the muckier and gooier the better. There are no aprons and no limits on the amount of mess you can make.
Former teacher Wendy set up the classes because she wanted to do something creative with her own children, inspire a love of reading and really believes in the benefits of messy play, which she says builds confidence, gives children the courage to explore, stimulates senses and helps to develop social interaction. She also promises Messy Books will leave your toddler “smiling, ready for a nap and eager to come back to class the following week!” And if that’s not enough of a draw, you also get to leave (nearly) all the mess behind for someone else to clean up!
From a parent’s perspective this class works well and would be a tricky one to replicate at home, especially if you’re not blessed with Wendy’s creativity and enthusiasm. And judging by the excitable bunch of paint-splattered toddlers in the room, it’s clearly a big hit with them too!
For more information or to sign up for Wendy’s summer or half term toddler classes in Chiswick, go to the Messy Books website.
