Messy Play Day ideas for OSHC
51 DIY activities for a messy play day at before and after school care or vacation care, usually run around World Chocolate Day (7 July) or 31 October. Pick and mix, or build a balanced day in one click.
Baked Bean Gumboot Relay
Teams race to carry baked beans in gumboots and fill a container, a gloriously messy relay full of laughs.
Balloon Day · Budding Artists · Art Attack Day +2Balloon Stamp Painting
Younger children dip small balloons in paint and stamp them onto paper to make bubbly circle patterns.
Messy Play Day · Nature Play Day · Backyard Play Day +2Bush Mud Kitchen
Children cook up mud pies, leaf soups and potions in an outdoor kitchen of old pots, pans and utensils.
Chocolate Day · Sensory Day · Messy Play Day +1Cocoa Scented Playdough
Children make and play with chocolate-scented playdough, enjoying a rich sensory experience.
Colour Fun Run · Holi · Rainbow Day +2Colour Powder Fun Run
Children run a short course while educators dust them with coloured cornflour, ending in a rainbow finish.
Budding Artists · Winter Wonderland · Polar Day +3Coloured Ice Cube Painting
Younger children paint with frozen coloured ice cubes, watching colours melt and mix on paper.
Sensory Day · Messy Play Day · Rainbow DayColoured Salt and Rice Trays
Younger children help dye salt and rice with food colouring, then use the colourful mixtures for drawing trays and small world play.
Corn Day · Down on the Farm · Art Attack Day +1Corn Cob Painting
Children roll dried corn cobs in paint to create textured patterns.
Gross and Messy Day · Messy Play Day · Game Show Day +1Cream Splat Chance Game
Children take turns rolling a die and hoping their number does not come up, or they get a dollop of foam on a paper plate pushed gently to their face.
Gross and Messy Day · Messy Play Day · Bug Day +1Custard Worm Hunt
A no-hands challenge where children search custard-filled trays for hidden lolly worms using only their mouths.
Colour Fun Run · Holi · Science Week +2DIY Colour Powder
Children mix cornflour with food colouring and water to make their own colour powder for a fun run.
Slime Lab Day · Sensory Day · Messy Play Day +1Edible Marshmallow Slime
Younger children knead melted marshmallows and cornflour into a soft, stretchy, taste-safe slime, perfect for groups who still put things in their mouths.
Down on the Farm · Sensory Day · Animal Theme +1Farm Animal Sensory Tub
Children dig through oats or hay to find hidden toy farm animals, naming each one and the sound it makes.
Wizard School Day · Science Day · Halloween +3Fizzing Potion Making
Children mix coloured vinegar into bicarb soda to brew bubbling magical potions.
Halloween · Volcano Day · Science Day +2Fizzing Pumpkin Eruption
Children add vinegar to bicarb soda inside a hollowed pumpkin and watch it foam up and spill over like a spooky volcano.
Volcano Day · Science Week · Science Day +2Fizzing Volcano Eruption
Children mix bicarb soda and vinegar inside a model volcano to create a foaming eruption and talk about the reaction that causes it.
Slime Lab Day · Sensory Day · Messy Play Day +2Fluffy Cloud Slime
Children fold shaving foam into PVA slime to make a puffy, cloud-soft slime and compare how it feels with regular slime.
Messy Play Day · Art Attack Day · Water Play Day +2Frozen Paint Cubes
Children paint with frozen cubes of paint that melt into bright, smooth colours as they glide across paper.
Gross and Messy Day · Slime Lab Day · Science Day +2Gelatine Slime
Children make a stretchy, gooey green slime from gelatine and syrup, exploring how ingredients change texture.
Messy Play Day · Craft Day · Mother's Day +2Gem Art Photo Frames
Children decorate cardboard photo frames with gems, sequins and patterns to display a photo or drawing.
Gingerbread Day · Sensory Day · Christmas +1Gingerbread Sensory Dough
Children squish, roll and cut spiced playdough that smells like gingerbread.
Messy Play Day · Sensory Day · Gross and Messy Day +2Goop, Mud and Sand Stations
Children move between stations of cornflour goop, edible chocolate mud and mouldable sand to explore very different textures.
At the Building Site · Sensory Day · Messy Play Day +2Grey Concrete Playdough Site
Younger children squash, dig and scoop grey playdough with toy diggers, creating a pretend construction site.
Holi · Colour Fun Run · Culture Celebration Day +2Holi Colour Throw
Children gently toss coloured cornflour outdoors, inspired by the festival of colours, then talk about how Holi is celebrated.
Sensory Day · Messy Play Day · Beach Day +1Homemade Kinetic Sand
Children mix sand, cornflour and a little oil into soft, mouldable play sand for building and squishing.
Rainbow Day · Messy Play Day · Art Attack Day +2Messy Rainbow Painting
Younger children mix colours on large paper with hands and sponges. Big sensory art outdoors.
Space Explorers · Sensory Day · Science and Space +1Moon Sand
Younger children mix flour and oil into soft, mouldable moon sand and make craters, footprints and moon bases.
Nature Play Day · Messy Play Day · Backyard Play Day +1Mud Kitchen Cooking
Children cook pretend meals with mud, water and leaves in an outdoor kitchen, using their imagination to plan menus.
Messy Play Day · Nature Play Day · Raw Art Day +2Mud Painting
Children mix mud to different thicknesses and use brushes, sticks and fingers to create earthy paintings outdoors.
Messy Play Day · Nature Play Day · Backyard Play Day +1Mud Pie Bakery
Children shape, decorate and serve mud pies in an outdoor mud kitchen, using leaves, petals and stones as toppings.
Gross and Messy Day · Halloween · Sensory Day +1Mystery Feely Boxes
Children reach into covered boxes to feel squishy, slimy and strange objects and guess what they are.
Neon Day · Slime Lab Day · Science Week +3Neon Glue Slime
Children make stretchy slime in neon colours using a borax-free recipe, then explore how it stretches and moves.
Messy Play Day · Science Week · Science Day +3Oobleck Exploration
Children mix cornflour and water into a strange goo that feels solid when squeezed but runs like liquid when relaxed.
Art Attack Day · Messy Play Day · Raw Art Day +3Outdoor Splatter Painting
Children flick, drip and splatter paint onto a large sheet outdoors, enjoying big, free movement and bold abstract results.
Craft Day · Long Projects Day · Recycle Day +2Papier-Mâché Bowls and Masks
Children layer newspaper and glue over balloons to make bowls or masks, then paint them once dry over the following day.
Volcano Day · Science Week · Long Projects Day +2Papier-Mâché Volcano Build
Children build volcanoes over a bottle frame using papier-mâché, then paint them ready for an eruption experiment.
Messy Play Day · Wizard School Day · Backyard Play Day +2Potion Kitchen and Sand Bakery
Children mix magic potions with water, petals and sand, and bake sand cakes in an outdoor kitchen of donated pots and bowls.
Wet Weather Day · Messy Play Day · Nature Play Day +2Puddle and Mud Play
With gumboots, raincoats and spare clothes, children head outside to splash in puddles and play in the mud on a wet day.
Art Attack Day · Budding Artists · Messy Play Day +1Rolling Marble Painting
Younger children roll paint-coated marbles around a tray lined with paper to create colourful, unpredictable patterns.
Beach Day · Summer Holidays · Under the Sea +2Sand Sculpture Contest
Children sculpt animals, cars or creatures from damp sand, exploring texture and design in a creative outdoor contest.
Gardening Day · Earth Day · National Tree Day +3Seed Bombs
Children mix clay, compost and native seeds into small balls to scatter in garden beds, helping bring bare patches to life.
Science Day · Slime Lab Day · Volcano Day +2Slime and Volcano Lab
Children rotate between a slime station and a bicarb volcano station, experimenting with two very different science reactions.
Slime Lab Day · Sensory Day · Messy Play Day +1Soap Sand Dough
Children mix sand, cornflour, dish soap and water into a squishy, clumping sand they can mould, cut and build with.
Messy Play Day · Sensory Day · Gross and Messy DaySoft Cloud Dough
Children mix flour and oil into a soft, mouldable dough that holds shapes but crumbles again, perfect for sensory play.
Gross and Messy Day · Messy Play Day · Sensory Day +1Spaghetti Toes
Children fish small toys out of a tub of cooked spaghetti using only their toes, a ticklish sensory challenge.
Halloween · Slime Lab Day · Messy Play Day +2Spooky Cornflour Goo
Children make a squishy, gooey slime from cornflour and conditioner, add colour and hide plastic spiders inside.
Water Play Day · Art Attack Day · Colour Fun Run +2Squirter Splash Painting
Children squirt watered-down paint at large sheets of paper using water pistols or spray bottles, creating bold splash art.
Science Day · Slime Lab Day · Science Week +1Stretchy Slime Lab
Children make slime with different recipes and test which stretches the longest, measuring results like scientists.
Superhero Day · Science Day · Messy Play Day +3Super Goop
Children mix cornflour and water into a strange goop that feels solid when punched and runs like liquid when held.
Winter Wonderland · Sensory Day · Messy Play Day +2Two-Ingredient Fake Snow
Children mix bicarb soda and hair conditioner into cool, mouldable snow for building tiny snowmen and wintry scenes.
Yarn Day · Art Attack Day · Messy Play Day +1Yarn Painting
Children dip yarn in paint and drag, drop or pull it across paper to create swirling patterns.