JESSIE Barrett had a wealth of experience as a childcare educator but when she had her first daughter, she saw a gap in the market for a unique activity for kids.
"I was looking for activities to do and we could never really find something that was different, the same activities were circulating, my daughter needed something on the sensory side, something out of the norm, messy and fun that fostered her creative instead of hindering it.
Investment income was disappointing but in line with what is in the marketplace.
"I've always been the messy play person at my job, I have always done the painting, the stuff that no-one wants to do."
The 27-year-old sat on the idea for a while but by the time her second daughter was born in October last year, she was preparing to open her business, The Creative Co By Jessie, at Wallsend.
"I worked part-time when I had my daughter in childcare and I still loved working with kids and the passion was still there but there was something missing. I sat on the business idea for a while because it's a massive leap when you have young ones, but the thought was still there," Ms Barrett says.
"I absolutely love being a mum but I always feel like there's more to me than being a mum ...I wanted to create a job for myself that enabled me to have that freedom so I can do the things with my kids that I love but also use my brain and have a purpose. I knew this kind of thing was missing in our community."
Open since February, The Creative Co By Jessie is a business that focuses entirely on enabling "messy", child-led play.
The open-plan studio runs daily sessions or workshops, ranging from creative explore and play, music and messy play,for children aged from three months up to around six. There is Sensitive Session, where lights are dimmed and music is soft and fewer participants, and there is also a Little Big Scientists workshop for kids aged up to 10.
Activities are set up at a range of play environments, and there are no more than 15 children per class.
The business also hosts "messy" birthday parties.
Ms Barrett says that while there are a host of exercise-based, structured play facilities around, her business runs classes that let kids be kids.
"Children can be fully immersed in what they are doing, and just explore how they want to explore, get messy and have fun and be kids," she says.
"Play enables children to learn sensory skills and textural awareness and try new experiences which they may never have had the opportunity to do."
These opportunities include playing with slime, sensory rice and sensory pasta - basically things many parents don't want to make at home because of the mess.
Ms Barrett makes all of the above, using "taste safe" food ingredients that often end up in the mouths of kids.
"It's not everyday that kids get to play at slime and wet stuff, because most parents don't want to clean up that mess. I don't blame them - it's messy and expensive and time-consuming. That's what we are here for - to create that environment for kids so they can get the benefits so the parents don't have to be inconvenienced."
"In fact, the thing parents say the most is that they love coming here because kids reap the benefits and they don't have to clean up."
Though the play is unstructured, Ms Barrett says everything on the sessions has a developmental purpose.
"A favourite one that kids lock to is sensory rice, we can use scoops and funnels and other instruments and tools for them to scoop, pour, to practice problem- solving and cause and effect. Textures and sounds and smells that they are engaged with while they are also engaging with other kids so there is that social aspect," she says.
Now employing others, Ms Barrett says she is proud of what she has achieved.
"I'm just a mum of two, I never thought I would be capable of running a business, it couldn't be done without my family and friends support but as a mum with two very small babies, it's taken a village," she says.
"I have always wanted a job that you can be super proud to tell others about. I had that in childcare but when it's your own business it's different."
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