Children fully immerse themselves in whatever they are doing and teach us what it is to live in the moment.
The more they immerse themselves, the more neural pathways in the brain are made. This is researched fact. The more neural pathways, the better the adaptive response. Another researched fact.
So why is mess important in this context?
Mess is essentially new textures. The more textures that a child learns about, the better their fine motor skills which is the coordination and use of the smaller muscles of the hand and feet. Messy play allows the brain to explore through the skin so that it can move through or integrate the reflexes and make discriminatory or defensive decisions about what the skin is feeling. I hope parents have the confidence to do this type of play at home.
For the moment, lets just focus on the hand. The hand initially is designed for survival. This is why the hand closes … Read the rest