No matter where you are in the world, will you be celebrating International Mud Day? Of course, celebrating means playing in the mud. What a great play-of-the-day!
Mud play is very sensory, from the smooth, slippery sensations as the mud oozes over our skin to the tight, dry feeling as the mud dries. There is no doubt that this is sensory play, and not just for hands. Adults indulge in this kind of play at spas.
If getting a whole self all covered with mud isn’t part of the plan for the day, it’s also fun to squish, pat, stir, dig, and bake with mud. Just add imagination to the dirt and water. Along with spoons and bowls, kids might want to use rocks, sticks, grass, flowers, pine cones, leaves, and bark for a mud soup. Kids may want to use small plastic toys that can get muddy and then be washed, too.
During mud play, kids are making connections such as:
- discovering the science of change. As dirt is mixed with water , it changes. Instead of a solid it becomes a liquid and now it can be poured. To mold mud, only a little water is needed.
- figuring out the math concepts of more and less. More water added to mud makes quite a difference. One spoon of mud is little and one bowl of mud is lots, even though it is still one.
- how to interact with playmates by sharing, negotiating, taking turns and more.
- ways to use language to communicate and learning new words such as squishy, slippery, thick, and more.
Mud play engages more than the sense of touch. There’s lots to see and hear and smell, but hopefully not taste. Mud play is wash and dry and is always different. How will you and your child celebrate International Mud Day?