Why We Let Kids Get Dirty at TOCA (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

Would you be okay with your kid coming home covered in mud, head to toe, and thrilled about it? At TOCA, we count on it.

Lelé's answer doesn't hesitate. "If the children want to get dirty, it's because it's important. I take that 100% seriously."

Why Does TOCA Let Kids Get So Messy?

Because getting dirty meets a real sensory need, not just a desire to make a mess. "To touch something that is very wet, to work with mud", Lelé says, "there's a sensorial part of it". The kids make mud cakes, mud cookies, even "burritos", getting genuinely skilled at shaping and decorating their creations. For toddlers as young as two or three years old, the impulse is the same: if they're reaching for it, it's usually because they need it.

Picture a normal day at TOCA: children playing in the dirt, running through the grass, drawing shapes on the ground. Someone finds a puddle. Within minutes, hands and knees are covered. One girl came running over with mud all the way up her sleeves, and she was thrilled about it. "When you see them", Lelé says, "they are so happy".

Is Messy Play Good For Child Development?

Our teachers see it as part of developing the whole child, not just the mind. "It's not enough for me to concentrate only on one part, your mind, your grades, all that stuff," Lelé says, "It's important for me to give attention to the other parts of their being too: the physical body, the emotional body". Focus too heavily on just one, and something else quietly falls out of balance. Getting messy, seen this way, isn't a distraction from learning. It's one more way a child's whole self gets room to grow, guided by a team that knows how to make space for it safely.

Lelé also believes these early, physical experiences leave a lasting mark. "This is going to be imprinted in their cells", she says. "Wherever they are, when they feel dysregulated, they're going to remember somehow how to regulate themselves again."

Pack the extra shirt. It's a small price for a happy child, and maybe, years from now, one who still remembers exactly where to go to feel okay again.