It was international mud day on June 29th, and I'm the one, crazy teacher at my center who celebrated it! I decided not to rock the boat too much, and combined mud play with water play day.
It started off with a bag of top soil, a couple buckets of sand from the sand box, and water.
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| I put half the bag of soil in the sensory table... |
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| ...and half in a wagon top whose wheels broke a long time ago, and it has been waiting to be re-used. |
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| To create another water source, I brought a plastic water jug from home and filled it with the hose |
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| This was by FAR the most popular thing on the playground, despite my attempts to draw them toward the mud! There is something about having control over the water flow that proved irresistible...So, although I brought it specifically for mud day, I decided to keep it around for a while longer. |
There were some takers at the sensory table, but everyone seemed hesitant to try actually standing in the mud.
And FINALLY, after seeing silly Ms. Gina mixing up the mud with her feet, there was interest in the mud puddle.
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| They wanted to help me mix the mud. |
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| Getting braver... |
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| "Oh! It's SO GOOEY!" |
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| Splashing proved satisfying. |
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| She had refused to go near the mud...but when I wasn't looking, she decided to test it out. |
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| Right after this, she stepped out and asked to be hosed off! :) |
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| Team work! |
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| Remember, there is no such thing as bad weather...only bad clothes! |
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| If you are not prepared with extra clothes, rain boots, and jackets you are missing out on some great sensory play! |
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| However, if circumstances like low budget and neat-freak superiors get in your way... |
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| make it happen on water day! |
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| I ask my parents to always have extra clothes available, and to send them in clothes that are allowed to get messy. There is a print-out of Lisa Murphy's (the Ooey Gooey Lady) print-out called "Red Paint in the Hair?!" posted on my door, and prior to enrolling in my class, I inform parents of how "hands-on" we are. |
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The best tool I have is technology. I use my camera to capture the play-based, messy learning that we do and blog about it for parents to see what we do every day. I am utilizing Facebook and email to keep parents informed about classroom updates and photos. I also post pictures all around my classroom. |
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| It is my next goal to make or purchase cheap rain coats for our monsoon season (rainy season). The goal is to have enough for each child in the class. |
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Is everyone as enthusiastic about messy play as I am? Not really, but I know it's for the good of the children. |
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| Muddy, messy bonding time! |
Overall, it was a great day! Because we combined it with water day, the children came prepared to get messy. We were able to hose everyone down, and get changed before lunch.
For more information about the benefits of mud play, as well as mud activity ideas, check out these resources:
Happy playing!
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Lovely, messy, muddy, sensory learning! Thanks for linking up to our Outdoor Play blog hop!
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