June 29 is International Mud Day! With all the rain we’ve been having lately, in Ontario, at least, there's a lot to work with. There are endless opportunities with mud to spark children’s imagination and stimulate sensory play.
Mud Strengthens Children
To some mud play may just look like messy fun, but there’s more to it than getting down and dirty with the wet, soft earthy matter found on the ground after the rain. Children connect with the basic stuff of nature and, believe it or not, mud play can even make you healthier.
There's some truth in the old saying "Dirt don't hurt!" Studies have shown that exposure to the diverse array of microbes found in soil can help to stimulate and strengthen the immune system.*
Mud Science
The earthy matter we all know to be mud is a science lesson in itself. Children can have endless fun learning and exploring the way mud is made and how it transforms from a gritty solid substance to a liquid with the help of water. Leave it to dry in the sun and watch it transform into a solid again.
Examine mud closely and students may very well see living pebbles, plant matter and maybe little creatures too. It's pretty easy to find mud or make living mud. If you're in an urban environment, a bucket of solil from someones garden, in a planter exposed to the elements, will develop its own ecosystem.
Add a large rock or two and you've created shelter for worms, and bugs that will endlessly engage toddlers. It's an easy way to connect little learners to their outdoor environment even in the most urban of settings.
If you’re looking for ways to have fun with mud here are a few suggestions you may want to try.
Engineering with Mud
Where there's a water source and a slope children inevitably try to defeat the flow of water with mud dams. They will use mud as a mortar and build with stones, sticks and any other materials they can find.
While combining Outlast Ramps, Blocks and Flow Pan, provokes children to build not just the dam but different slopes and water courses.
Math in Mud
Building with mud is fun and the possibilities are endless with what you can make.
Discoveries in mud, turn to treasures.
But if your outdoor area lacks biodiversity, naturally, look to add to your outdoor classroom environment with natural loose parts that reflect & take inspiration from the ecosystems of your region.
Adding (see what we did there 😉) sorting trays and boxes can be super inviting provocations to mathematical thinking.
You'll find children will:
Categorize based on natural properties and traits -- living things vs. materials vs. human made.
Create patterns by colour, size, shape for abstract thinking and logic
Break down & building quantities for numeric comprehension & algebraic thinking
Comparing and measuring
Here are some examples of beautiful wooden sorting trays and boxes:
Plus, seeding mud with unusual, special treasures can prompt even more engagement. Consider the Dinosaur Match and Measure Bones and Shark Teeth Set -- to provoke and engage in more structured mathematical activity.
Mud Play Kitchen
Who wants a gourmet mud pie? Or a fancy mud cake? Children can use their imagination and create endless masterpieces with this beautiful TUYA's cedar wood mud kitchen! It features chunky wooden pegs great for tool storage and investigative play, and durable cedar wood that is naturally weather resistant to sun, ice, rain, and snow.
Mud Art
Dryer mud provokes children into creative expression. Shaping and sculpting is with mud is a natural impulse. As the mud dries your sculptures will begin to take shape!
These creations are often not durable -- but with the ubiquity of cameras, we can still capture them and share with parents with a quick picture. But there are beautiful learning opportunities in the inherent impermanence of mud creations, and how nature reclaims its elements.
Dramatic Play
Durable, stones and rollers prompt all sorts of imaginative play. These stone composite products are durable and have a satisfying heft in little hands.
The Little Lands Stones set with its animals from the oceans, forests and farms, as wells from vehicles and buildings are bound to prompt stories and games.
Add Stone Little People and Little people like me for empathetic play. They designs perfectly balance representation and abstraction, open-ended prompting and specificity.
To see more ideas and resources for outdoor learning and play, CLICK HERE.
* Roslund, M. I., et al. (2020). "Biodiversity intervention enhances immune regulation and health-associated commensal microbiota among daycare children." Science Advances.
von Hertzen, L., et al. (2011). "Environmental biodiversity, human microbiota, and allergy are interrelated." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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