This day I love.......: mess

If you follow me over on Instagram you will know that I have not been very well this past week. In fact the house has been full of lurgy! So much so that Saturday evening saw Little Man rushed to hospital with breathing problems. The problem when you are a parent and you are poorly is that you still have to take care of the tiny humans you have responsibility for. When there are 3 of them to entertain, each with different needs it can be extra tricky.

First port of call for the youngest two was trying to make me feel better. This obviously involved listening to my heart beat and checking my temperature. Little man seemed to shove all the medical tools into my ear, which didn't help matters.

After my check up I really needed a little bit of peace and quiet. Lets face it I wasn't feeling well to start with and a 2 year old performing a check up who is not the most delicate did not seem to help matters. Entertaining 3 children and keeping them quiet can be tricky but I found a solution. Mess free painting!

Little Brian paint sticks provided mess free painting and kept all three children quiet. Win all round. The paint sticks were perfect even for Little Man to hold and he had no issues twisting the paint up to use. There is no need for brushes or water, so nothing to clean up and no accidents to spill. Even better they are non toxic and wipe off glass and wooden tables easily [don't ask how I know].

With the colours drying really quickly creativity began flowing and the children were busy with their masterpieces. The colours really bold and vivid and dried the same way too.

I managed to get some quiet time and the children got to spend some time using their imaginations and creativity. Even better there was no mess to clean up afterwards, except a quick table wipe were Little Man had got very creative.

The Little Brian paint sticks have been a huge hit all around and I can see us using them a lot more and not just when I am poorly!

The paint sticks were sent for review, all words are my own opinion

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Finding activities for the girls to do together is relatively easy, as there is 21 months between them and they have the same interests. They are the same height and with the same size feet so they often get mistaken for twins. Finding something that all 3 of my children can enjoy is rather tricky. An invitation from Mess Around to spend the morning with them at messy play, and it was suitable for ages 6 months [sitting unaided] to 10 years, seemed to offer the perfect solution. Something for all three of my children to do together.

We had arrived early and the girls watched eagerly from the window as the Mess Around team set up different messy stations inside. They spotted the ones with ice, and the ones with ice cream and were keen to get inside and play.

Before letting them loose I wanted a quick picture and mainly so I could see how clean they were before the fun started. Little Man however was taken by the lights and refused to look at the camera, he had missed his morning nap and I half expecting him to fall asleep during the messy fun simply from tiredness.

The girls started off very tentatively. Placing soap on sponges and staying within the tuff spots.

They then remembered the ice cream tuff spot and headed straight over to it, asking if they could eat it.

Before getting stuck in. Little Man loved his ice cream. The coldness kept causing him to drop the cone but he soon picked it back up to have a bit more. He finished every part and wanted to go in for some more.

Who could blame him when you get to eat ice cream with a spade?

By this point my youngest, who is food obsessed, had begun walking round and playing in each area in a bid to discover what she could and could not eat. My eldest had located the science station and was busy experimenting with colour changing bubble bath.

The girls had some fun with the slippy slime but my youngest was desperate to show me and her sister what she had found.

Her amazing food senses had taken her to the cake decorating table. A party isn't a party without cake, and both girls wasted no time in getting stuck in to make their party cake.

Little Man has a real love for water and playing `with balls. He was over the moon when he discovered a container full of water and balls and began splashing in the water.

In an attempt to let him dry out a bit, we moved over to some other sensory play. Including green spaghetti, which was really sticky and the girls seemed to really love.

My youngest wanted to eat the baked beans in the tuff spot next to the spaghetti but we changed her mind and instead she went to play with jelly, whilst my eldest played pie face.

I think it is safe to say that things got very very messy indeed, but both girls and Little Man were loving it!

Like his big sister Little Man had taken to eating everything. Given he had missed his morning nap I was quite surprised he was still awake, I think he was having far too much fun with all the different textures and things to explore and play with.

The hour seemed to fly and no one wanted to leave, in fact we were the last to go out the door. My youngest sulked in the car on the way home because she had loved it so much, and Little Man finally fell asleep after having so much fun.

It was wonderful to finally find something that all three of my children could do together, and that each of them got something out of the session. After two baths I am still finding random oats, cereals and green spaghetti but my girls haven't stopped talking about their time at Mess Around and both have asked to go back.

This Day I love messing around at Messy play

Thank you to Mess around for inviting us to play, all words are my own opinion.

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Its national play day today. Play day is held on the first Wednesday in August and is a day used to celebrate play and the importance of play in a child's development. It is through play that a child develops new skills. It gives them a chance to be creative and use their imagination. A chance to practise new ideas. A way to explore the world around them.

The girls were in nursery today as I had to work. I picked them up and we made the most of national play day. Whilst I try to make the most of every day with the girls today I wanted to do something extra special. I asked them what they wanted to do.

My eldest first declared that I had to lie down, as my tummy looked poorly and she needed to make it better

I was then instructed to lie on my tummy so she could listen to my heart, why through my back I don't know. I was then told to lie very still and she went and made medicine on her play cooker. After I took my medicine, I was given a clap and was told I had been a good Mummy so now I could play. Love her imagination at work.

We decided to build some towers. My eldest likes to build towers and she likes to talk about the different colours. We also count how long the towers stay up for and the number of bricks.

My youngest approach to tower building was much more laid back

Although she soon picked up when we started making them fall over. She could not stop laughing and kept clapping her hands.

My youngest had so much fun it was lovely to watch her so happy. She then started putting the bricks back in the bag which I took as a sign she wanted to do something else. She pointed at her coloured rings and so I got them down from the shelf so we could play. The girls played together stacking the rings in different orders and it was lovely to watch them.

My eldest pretended that the rings were a birthday cake, I think because its her birthday soon, and kept singing 'Happy birthday'. She would then fetch a ring to us and say 'have some cake'.

We read some books and had lots of cuddles, before it was time for some singing. We sang lots of our favourite songs, one of my eldest is sleeping rabbits. We all put on our rabbit ears and hopped around. This picture was taken by my eldest as we were playing.

Although we tidied up as we went along, the play room looked like this at the end of the day.

Its no surprise then that after all the playing we did, that both girls were completely tired out.

This day I love Play day.

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