Messy play activities are great to encourage kids of all ages and tactile sensitivities. Messy play is great for kids that do not like touching different textures and/or may be very picky eaters. Encourage your child to touch different textures by you demonstrating the touching of the texture first, then have the child at least put their finger in the texture and try touching it, and always have a clean wipe nearby to be able to quickly clean the child’s hands if they do not like the texture and start to tantrum.
Messy play is also great for kids that enjoy touching textures and are constantly touching different things.This allows them an outlet to organize their body and get messy in the texture in a constructive environment. Here is a list of some messy play activities:
Finger paiting with washable paint
Finger painting with food such as pudding, yogurt, fruit.
Making shapes and letters in shaving cream
Rolling play-dough into shapes
Glitter glue outline name
Painting with apples as stencils
Painting with leaves and flowers
Play with Jell-O and stick items inside of Jell-O bowl
Stretch putty and hide items inside of it and then find items
Paint coloring book pages with mushed berries
Crash toy cars into food items and squish food
Paiting rainbows with marshmellows as paintbrushes
If you have a picky eater, try having them play with the non-preferred food instead of eating it and then you can eventually work up to eating once they feel comfortable.
These are just a couple of messy play activities-there are plenty more so let your imagination run wild!