Messy play with food: why mess helps babies learn

Why mess helps

It can be hard to watch yogurt go in the hair. But the NHS says mess is an important part of your baby’s development: encouraging your baby to touch and play with their food helps them learn how to eat and enjoy different foods, flavours and textures.

NHS Highland explains that when children touch, squeeze, squish and explore food, they learn how it looks, smells, feels and tastes. It also helps them:

• practise picking up food and bringing it to their mouth
• build confidence and independence
• learn about their own hunger and fullness, and decide how much to eat

The AAP says not to be surprised if most of the first few meals end up on your baby’s face, hands and bib. The CDC suggests giving children the chance to use spoons and forks, even if it makes eating messy. For toddlers, the AAP says looking at, touching, smelling and licking a food all count as learning, and that it can take 13 or more tries before a child accepts a new food.

At mealtimes: let them explore

You don’t need special activities. Most messy play happens at ordinary meals:

• Offer soft finger foods your baby can hold, about the size of your finger (NHS). See safe food sizes and shapes.
• Let them squash, smear and drop food on the tray before they eat it, or instead of eating it.
• Hold off on wiping their face and hands after every bite. NHS Highland suggests focusing on learning rather than cleanliness.
• Give them their own spoon to hold while you feed them with another. See self-feeding with utensils.

The NHS says to make sure your baby is sitting safely, upright, so they can swallow properly, and to always stay with them while they’re eating.

Food play ideas

ASHA says children learn through play, and suggests making food playful, for example by finger painting with applesauce. A few ideas using soft foods that are safe for babies from 6 months, once they’re eating them:

• Finger painting on the high chair tray with unsweetened applesauce, plain full-fat yogurt or thick, cooled oatmeal
• Squashing soft-cooked sweet potato, ripe banana or avocado
• Squishing large, well-cooked pasta shapes
• Waving and dabbing soft-cooked broccoli florets in yogurt or mashed potato
• Scooping mashed potato with a spoon or hands

Toddlers can do more: the AAP suggests cooking together, such as mashing an avocado with a fork. See cooking with toddlers.

Keep it safe

• Only foods your child already eats safely. If your child has a food allergy, don’t use that food in play. Give a new allergen as a proper first taste at home instead: see how to introduce allergens.
• Soft, choking-safe foods only. Some food play ideas, including some written for older children who see a dietitian, use dry pasta, uncooked rice, dried beans or lentils, flour, popcorn or grapes that haven’t been quartered. We leave these out for babies and toddlers, because young children put play food in their mouths, and the CDC lists small, hard foods, whole beans, popcorn and uncut grapes as choking hazards. See the choking hazards list.
• No raw flour or raw dough. The CDC says not to let children play with or eat dough made with raw flour, including homemade play dough: raw flour can carry germs that are killed only by baking or cooking.
• No honey before 12 months, and no added sugar. Skip sprinkles, syrups and chocolate spread. See salt and sugar for babies.
• Sitting down, with you there. The CDC says children should sit up while eating, not lie down, crawl or walk, and that an adult should watch them at all times. Food play counts, wherever you play.

Gagging is normal while babies learn: see gagging vs. choking. If your child can’t breathe, cough or cry, start choking first aid. Shout for help and have someone call 911 straight away. If you’re alone and your phone is with you, put it on speaker, call, and start back blows at once. Don’t leave your child to find a phone.Shout for help and start back blows and thrusts straight away. If someone is with you, ask them to call 999 now. If you’re alone, call 999 (on speaker) if the blockage hasn’t cleared after one round of back blows and thrusts, and keep going until help arrives.Shout for help and have someone call your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia) straight away. If you’re alone and your phone is with you, put it on speaker, call, and start back blows at once.

Keep it pressure-free

Messy play is about getting comfortable with food, not about eating it. If your child licks their fingers, that’s a bonus.

• Join in. Show them first by squashing and touching the food yourself.
• Keep it short, and stop when they lose interest.
• No bribes, rewards or “one more bite”. ASHA says not to bribe or push too much, because pushing can give children negative feelings about eating. We go further: skip sticker charts and treats for eating, because this is play, not a meal to finish.
• Praise curiosity, not how much they ate (AAP).
• Stop if they’re upset. Try again another day.

If your child is still very upset by textures, gags on most foods, or will eat only one texture, talk to your doctor: see when to see a feeding therapist.

Easier cleanup

• Protect the floor. The NHS suggests newspaper or a protective mat under the high chair. NHS Highland suggests a wipe-clean mat or a towel.
• Dress for it. Easy-to-wash clothes, a long-sleeved bib, or just a diaper in a warm room.
• Wash hands before and after: yours and theirs.
• Throw away the leftovers. Don’t save food that has been played with or dropped. Put clean, untouched leftovers in the fridge within 2 hours, or 1 hour if it’s hotter than 90°F (32°C) (USDA FSIS).
• A bath helps. Some families save messy meals for before bath time.

For food that ends up on the floor on purpose, see why babies throw food.

Where US and UK advice differs

The advice is very similar: both say mess is normal and helps babies learn, and that you should stay with your child and never pressure them to eat.