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Here are suggestions for ways to foster delightful messy-play experiences with children with physical disabilities:

1. Offer children who have trouble grasping and moving their hands a variety of tools to choose from: containers with and without handles, sifters, sponges, rags, and scoops. For finger painting, help children with limited hand movement find the easiest hand part to use -- fingers, palms, or fists.

2. Use warm water during water play. Cold water can stiffen the muscles in children with cerebral palsy or the joints in children with arthritis. Beginning the day with warm-water play can relax children's hands and increase fine-motor agility.

3. Some children with physical disabilities -- particularly those with cerebral palsy or Down's syndrome -- are hypersensitive to touch, so they resist handling things with rough or sticky textures of wet or cold substances. Let them approach messy-play activities at their own pace, with lots of positive adult reinforcement for touching new things.

These suggestions are from the February 1993 issue of Early Childhood Today. The author is Merle Karnes, Ed.D., a professor of special education at the University of Illinois at Urbana.

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