Using Food for Messy Play - Yes or No?

Sand, water, soil, paint and other craft supplies are popular materials for messy play, but what about food? Certainly, providers of messy play in West Cumbria and elsewhere use food items in their sensory activities, and when searching the internet for messy play ideas, I came across countless sensory trays set up with food. The first session for messy play near Whitehaven I’m planning is almost entirely food based too. However, using food for messy play is controversial, with some parents preferring to avoid the association between food and play. If I’m honest, I’m not entirely comfortable using food either, but it does offer certain advantages over other materials. So what are the main issues surrounding food in sensory play?

Using food appears wasteful

With over 1.1. million emergency food parcels given out in the UK by the Trussel Trust’s food banks during the last year, playing with food can does seem wasteful. Whether it’s rice, pasta, cereal, beans or custard, the food used in messy play could potentially have been eaten by a family in need. However, while food play perhaps doesn’t appear to value or respect foodstuffs, perhaps sensory play with food isn’t quite as wasteful as it first appears. Firstly, edible materials used in sensory play may not be used as intended, but they aren’t just being discarded; the food is simply used in a different way. Secondly, it’s possible to reuse dry food ingredients many times during messy play; I’ve done this with dry rice, pasta and oats at home. Thirdly, parents are unlikely to see the paint that goes into finger painting during their kids’ early years as wasted, so you can apply the same thinking to edible materials used for crafts and sensory activities, as the foods are aiding learning and development. Indeed, opting for foods in messy play can cost you less than expensive craft materials. Finally, the food used in messy play wouldn’t otherwise be going to someone living in hunger, so isn’t depriving them of food, but thinking about the implications of food play might encourage you to donate to a local food bank. A closing thought on this area is that no one discourages water play, even though 783 million people worldwide have no access to clean water.

Image by Daniel Schwen via Wikimedia Commons

Food play may hinder eating at meals

Although you might think that messy play with food encourages children to mess around at meal times, exploring foodstuffs can actually improve dietary intake, particularly in terms of the range of items eaten. Increased dietary variety is thanks to sensory food play giving little ones the chance to explore foods, so when they are more familiar with the appearance and texture of a new food, as well as their smell and taste, they are more likely to accept them. Messy food play is especially helpful for children with sensory needs, who often struggle to tolerate different textures, as during sensory exploration there’s no pressure to eat.

Foods pose a risk for children with allergies

Edible materials are a good bet for babies and toddlers who still put items in their mouths, but while foodstuffs are non-toxic, they may be risky for children with allergies. This may affect more children than you realise, as up to 8% of kids in the UK have a diagnosed food allergy. Labelling the allergens in sensory trays helps to inform parents so they can choose which activities their children take part in. However, as there’s always a risk of cross contamination, it’s perhaps safer to avoid the major allergens in sensory play. In the messy play group I’m starting up, my plan is to steer clear of milk, soya, eggs and nuts, as these are the most common allergens among youngsters.

Image by Quim Gil via Wikimedia Commons

If you don’t use food for sensory play, the two alternatives are materials found naturally in the environment and those that are manmade. However, neither offers a perfect solution. Like food, many natural materials are safe if mouthed, though if every family started to take sticks, stones, bark, leaves, flowers and pinecones in quantity, this could potentially impact on the ecosystem from which they are taken. Meanwhile, the production of synthetic items can leave a large footprint on the environment. Therefore, perhaps there’s a balance to be had. There are benefits for using food in sensory play, but it’s important to be mindful of it use, so using food alongside other safe materials is probably a good bet.