Over the last two weeks we have played with sticky sugary play dough and lots and lots of sand.
Our toys were looking rather worse for wear caked in a sticky sugary sand.
Yuck!
And so we decided to set up a toy wash.
Our toy wash had four stages.
Soap, Suds, Rinse and Dry.
Soap, Suds, Rinse and Dry.
Most of the toys that needed washing were vehicles.
Esther and William drove them through the soap which was two roasting tins filled with shaving foam.
They then took them to a bowl of warm soapy water to scrub them with sponges and scourers.
The rinse was a bowl of cold water and the drying station was towels and muslins to dry, polish and shine.
We all had a wonderful time and we cleaned the toys.
A good morning’s work!
Esther and William love playing with shaving foam. It is so soft and light. It is great for cars to drive through and they always liken it to snow.
William spend much time today pushing Farmer Nick’s tractor through the deep snow and turning Farmer Nick into Farmer Christmas!
Esther really enjoyed washing the cars in the warm soapy water and scrubbing their wheels with the sponge. It was funny to watch the water become cloudier and cloudier as more shaving foam was transferred into the bowls.
Esther also enjoyed making marks and tracks in the shaving foam. And making funny shaving foam faces with her Mr Potato Head accessories.
There was lots of chatter and laughter throughout this activity.
And lots of sloppy slurpy soapy mess!
I love the way that Esther and William really play together now. They are a real team and engage in each other’s imaginary worlds. I am sure you are not supposed to be able to do that at 34 months? Perhaps it is a twin thing.
Their vocabulary is amazing! During this activity they talked about cleaning, scrubbing, swooshing, sinking, floating, diving. They talked about things being light and heavy. They know so much!
They talked about their aeroplane flying through the air and crash landing in the sea. They talk about search and rescue, thanks to Thomas! They talk to their toys too especially Farmer Nick and Farmer Kim, and all their engines!
This was a great early morning activity. It is clean messy play and so we were able to do it before preschool.
It is also a way of getting Esther and William involved in caring for and cleaning their toys.
It is also just good simple fun.
They loved getting lots of shaving foam on their hands and then washing it off. They did this over and over again and thought it was hilarious.
And of course, they are my children, it was not too long before they did this!
I love my children and watching them play never fails to make me smile.
Thank you Esther and William.
God bless Messy Play!
What a lovely post. Such fun had by two adorable happy children and one great Mummy x
Washing toys is ace. Mine will spend a whole afternoon washing their garden ride-ons. Adding shaving foam is a stroke of genius, though.
Wonderful! My 3yo looked at the pictures and said “Can I go to William’s house?” 🙂
This looks tremendous fun; my two also love cleaning things, I think it is the combination of bubbles and water. Such good fun and, as you say, it is the perfect combination of clean and messy play! Off topic, but I LOVE their pyjamas, they’ve gone straight to the top of my kiddy clothing wish list! Oh, and Sonny is just shy of 32 months and plays very well with Jasmine, they invent and create little scenarios together. I think it is a sibling thing 🙂 xx
I just smiled and smiled reading this post. You are so attentive to them, yet not intervening, letting them explore and discover.
This is the sort of messy play I could easily do with mine- cleaning messy play. 🙂
Out of curiosity, how long did this play session take to set up, for E & W to play and then to clean up?
Set up took about 5 minutes though I had thought about it the night before, we played for the best part of an hour, cleaning up after took a good 10 minutes and then Esther and William needed drying and changing!! They always do x
I love how children ALWAYS love water play, ans what a great way to get them involved in cleaning their toys x
What an amazing idea, Jennie! I really love this and am totally doing this when we are home and sorted. Thank you xx
Loving the idea of turning a chore into play. Will be following suit this weekend with a much needed toy tidy-up, edit and wash for the lucky toys that don’t get edited!! (or maybe we should also wash the edited ones before they go to a new home… hmm)
I echo what everyone else is saying! getting a necessary cleaning job done but having so much fun doing it! the best!
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Great idea, indeed! If a person thinks about it, toys get incredibly dirty as children are touching them all the time and putting them in every dirty corner they can find in and outside the house, so the idea is terrific! It seems that the kids had a great time cleaning them, too! Lovely post! 🙂