My first MESSY PLAY - Little Messy Champs 25 June 2023

💯 Inspiring Art Therapy Moments: Personal Stories

MESSY PLAY is a multi-sensory experience for <Little Messy Champs>, and when the parents join together, it fosters positive bonding and interaction and encourages communication and expression.

 "Excuse the mess; the children are making memories."

 It was an exciting experience to plan and prepare for this "messy party" (the way my participants called it) tailored to children as young as 3-year-olds to 9-year-olds, as well as their parents. As it was my first time organising the event from scratch, there was a mixture of excitement, anxiety, anticipation, and fear of making mistakes. Days before the event, my mind was restless. I kept going through the flow of the programme, checking if all the materials were enough and if the activities were age-appropriate. To be honest, it was not easy to plan alone, but I was glad that the party was a success. The parents were very encouraging and wished to have more in the future. 💃

 Last Sunday, June 25, the children explored a variety of art materials, from the dry medium to the fluid medium. We started with movement activities which were not to their liking and moved towards playing with their hands, for example making bubbles and hand painting. Their 💯 favourite activity was playing with the water. Anything that involved water — you name it,t they like it. From spraying each other with the squeeze bottles to playing with water balloons and lastly, in the fountain pool, they enjoyed them.

 I found one interesting thing about the children: they liked to fill up the holes on the floor with water. At one point, it became a competition to see who filled the most holes. 😂 They always have their way of playing; we just need to provide the opportunity for them to do so. You won't believe that some of them did not want to leave the place at the end of the messy party.

 Not to mention the parents; they also enjoyed themselves to the fullest, had time to connect with their children, and in the end, they were all smiles.

 I often believe that creativity comes from being messy. This brings us into a state of getting in touch with our body and develops the ability to regulate ourselves internally, especially for children.

 According to Donald Winnicott, it is in playing that we discover our creative selves.

🌼Ling In🌼 

June 30, 2023

In this safe, held, and contained space, I invite honesty and acceptance and simply focus on engaging in my creative-making and reflective visual journaling, on finding ways to express, empower and build inner resilience. 

This blog is intended only to record my own art practice and reflective visual journaling. 

[All images and texts belong to the artist/writer.]