Messy Hands Make Happy Hearts

Messy Hands Make Happy Hearts Making messes so hearts are happy. Sensory Play pop-ups. Homeschool mom. Based in St. John's, Newfoundland. The mom guilt was eating me alive.

Inspired by the change Sensory Play has made in our lives, I'm a work-from-home mom to a toddler on a Sensory Play Exploration Mission. My son struggled with too much screen time and the negative effects that had on him. I was lost not knowing how to change that because screens are just so *convenient*, especially when I was flat-out with work and just couldn't take time out to play with him. I fe

lt like I was failing at everything - work, mom-ing, wife-ing, and life-ing. I took my son to a music and sensory play small local business collaboration at a local Montessori-based school and that's when everything changed for us. I saw how my son lit up and got so excited to be there. It's now the only thing I can get him out the door for without a fight ha! We've just been full-steam ahead ever since! (Much to my husband's dismay - hello, ADHD-infused chaos!)

This page is the result of that experience and wanting to share our journey so others can experience the joy and benefits of sensory play too. I'll never claim to be an expert - in fact, in this very moment, I'm very much just learning. So, let's learn together and get those hands dirty so our hearts can get happy! My hope for this page is to share ideas, share resources, share links for products, and educate. Eventually, I hope to have some affiliate links for cute and useful products, some group pre-orders of unique and beautiful sensory/Montessori products, and get a blog launched that shares valuable, educational content. Thank you for being here! I'm excited to share this journey with you!

👩‍🏫 I've been teaching my son how to read -- starting with the alphabet (obvs 🤪). I don't know about your kids, but, ful...
02/13/2026

👩‍🏫 I've been teaching my son how to read -- starting with the alphabet (obvs 🤪). I don't know about your kids, but, full disclosure:

❌ My son does NOT like learning the alphabet.

📖 And, since it was my number 1 goal this year to teach him to read because he loves books (and there's no limit on what you can learn when you can read!), we were at a bit of an impasse.

So, in a moment of desperation, I took a chance on the app Reading. com because ads kept popping up in my feed for it (...probably because they sensed my despair), and in the past week we've learned 5 new letters and their sounds and...drum roll please...he's read his first words!! Amazing what you can do with just 5 letters!

I'm literally over the moon 🚀🌙😅

🏃‍♂️ We're still butting heads a little (little boy energy that doesn't favour sitting still and focusing, and overstimulated mom energy holding a 4-month-old👶), but I'm very pleased with the investment (it's pretty low cost, especially for the amount of pressure it's relieved from us!)

I haven't had a lot of time to put into intentional sensory play setups for my son as I had hoped, but I've been attempting some somewhat casual crafts ✂ when baby allows.

And so, this idea was born. 💡

I will share our crafts as we go (well, probably with a bit of a lag, if we're honest), along with some book suggestions (either of books we've read or want to read that match the "theme")

Reading. com starts it's alphabet-learning journey at the letter "Mm", so here's a craft we will be doing and some books we've read!

Check out the comments for links to my Pinterest board for crafty inspo and a link to the reading app to give it a try!

For a sensory experience involving taste, make [M]uffins together!

Just sharing some of our favourite books of late!What are some of YOUR book recs? We're always on the hunt for a solid s...
01/05/2026

Just sharing some of our favourite books of late!

What are some of YOUR book recs? We're always on the hunt for a solid storyline and beautiful illustrations! Comment below!

As homeschoolers, we're always looking for learning objectives in whatever we do. What could we say we learned from this...
01/05/2026

As homeschoolers, we're always looking for learning objectives in whatever we do.

What could we say we learned from this? 😅

🎃FREE Halloween activity sheets for your little trick-or-treaters today!🎃I had more plans for these, but with the arriva...
10/31/2025

🎃FREE Halloween activity sheets for your little trick-or-treaters today!🎃

I had more plans for these, but with the arrival of our newest member, I haven't had the time or energy to put it together, so instead I'm offering these for FREE!

Print from saved images from FB or join our group on Facebook to download the printable PDFs for better quality (I will add more as I make more for other occasions)! Let me know in the comments if you use the sheets and what you think of them! :)

Downloadable, printable PDF: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BQdovdfR8/

7 Fun Activity Sheets:

1. Trick-or-Treat Scavenger Hunt: Take with you trick-or-treating to add to the fun and intrigue!
2. Halloween Candy Sensory Identification: A fun way to slow down and be mindful of their treats.
3. Line tracing: practice pen control and letter identification.
4. Scissor practice: practice following lines and master scissor holding.
5-7. Colouring sheets.

Happy trick-or-treating, everyone! Let me know how it goes!

This is what I love about homeschooling.Some days look like daddy practicing pen control with you and zombie mommy recov...
10/30/2025

This is what I love about homeschooling.

Some days look like daddy practicing pen control with you and zombie mommy recovering in the rocking chair next to you.

This is the life I'm fighting for: Connection and interest-driven quality time with my kids in a low-pressure learning environment.

Did you know? I was public schooled from K-Grade 5 and then began homeschooling with my 3 siblings from grade 6 onwards. Homeschool consisted of me being a complete book worm, consuming 4-6 large chapter books a week, playing math games with my grandmother (who managed to find a way for math to slightly less intolerable), spending hours with her in craft stores and in the depths of her overflowing craft room wrestling with her sewing machine, going out into the woods to find streams to draw next to, and random road trips in our blue Plymouth minivan with it's roaring muffler and tied-on passenger door (we didn't have money for a fancy 2-door) with no purpose but to get "lost" and find hidden treasures in the beautiful landscape of our province.

I managed to "finish" high school at grade 10 level and get into university and get top grades in everything but linguistics and math. Who invented the rules for linguistics anyway?? Certainly not a Newfoundlander! Funnily enough, I ended up teaching English in Cambodia for 3 years and while I failed Lingusitics in uni (probably because I think I attended 3 classes the whole semester 🫣), it all came back to me a decade later in a more practical, useful way. You never know how things you do may serve you in the future, even when, at the time, they seem to have been a "failure". We ain't talking about math tho. That can stay in the 6-foot grave of "nope" I buried it in 20 years ago.

Anyway.

Story time is over. I'm still in my pjs and need food. Have a great day everyone! 🥰

Are you homeschooling this year? Were you homeschooled as a kid? Tell me something about it!

It's been a busy year...and now it's time to slow down. 🐌Meet our newest addition!It's going to be quite the adventure h...
10/22/2025

It's been a busy year...and now it's time to slow down. 🐌

Meet our newest addition!

It's going to be quite the adventure homeschooling our oldest on mushy mombrain, raising a newborn on no sleep, and trying not to collapse into a hormonal heap 😅

Looking forward to clearing through the chaos to share more resources and ideas with you as we go!

So...I'm supposed to be in labour, but my body decided "not today" after a week of fun false labour. In an attempt to no...
10/09/2025

So...I'm supposed to be in labour, but my body decided "not today" after a week of fun false labour.

In an attempt to not go batty and hopeully get things moving, we headed out to put my little project to the test.

I've been working on some activity sheets in the time I've been more restricted on work and movement (yay, pregnancy-induced hypertension...)

Come join the fun! Comment "Fall Fun" to get a LIMITED TIME FREE PDF of both sheets emailed to you. If you want them printed and laminated with a small white erase marker, please let me know. The physical package is $5 to cover cost of supplies. Free pickup in East End St. John's within 24 hours of order (depending on where I'm at with this labour 😅)

If you order and use these sheets, send me pics! I wanna see the fun you have! ❤️💕

This took way too long to get launched, but here we are! ✨Introducing Seek & Find Shakers by Messy Hands Make Happy Hear...
09/25/2025

This took way too long to get launched, but here we are!

✨Introducing Seek & Find Shakers by Messy Hands Make Happy Hearts!

To start us off (I have a lot more themes planned and being worked on!), here's our Halloween-themed shaker with a special price of just $15 (plus shipping - local pickup available)! It comes with a reusable seek-guide, a small whiteboard marker with an eraser top, AND 5 limited-time FREE print-at-home activity sheets to match. (send a message to place an order!)

If you head over to our new Usborne Books VIP group, join, and invite 5 friends who would be most likely to benefit from the group, you'll also be entered to win a special Usborne Book Halloween-themed prize! I will update the group with more details. Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/807232378500996

❤As a special thank you gift from me, if you order $150+ in Usborne Books by October 1, you'll be eligible for 50% OFF a shaker! (one per customer).

Shop Usborne Books here: https://www.myubah.ca/MESSYHANDSHAPPYHEARTS/

⚠PLEASE NOTE: This is for CANADIANS ONLY as, unfortunately, my Usborne connection can only ship throughout Canada.

⚠Other Important Notes:
1. The Seek & Find Shaker kit is not affiliated with Usborne Books in any way and is entirely a Messy Hands product.
2. Use at your own risk and with adult supervision. Recommended age: 3+. Items in our shakers are small and pose a choking risk if opened. The marker also has small pieces. Messy Hands is not responsible for any injury or death as a result of using this product.
3. I have limited stock on hand. I may be able to take more pre-orders once the stock runs out, but with shipping times, I may not be able to fulfil additional orders in time for Halloween if ordered after September 30.

Address

St. John's
St. John's, Newfoundland And Labrador, NL

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Messy Hands Make Happy Hearts posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category