July 29th is International Mud Day!
Why is mud play (and other messy play) important? Messy sensory play can reduce tension, relieve stress, and have a calming effect on children. I can’t think of a better time to provide that for our children than these times, can you?
Start with some old clothes or bathing suits, and add a convenient source of water, both for mixing mud and clean up. To keep from making more mud during clean up, consider washing off on the sidewalk or driveway.
What can you do with mud?
Make mudpies! Provide pans, pie/muffin/cupcake tins, and cupcake cups as well as a variety of loose and natural parts such as flowers, stones, sticks, bits and pieces of random things around the house that can get muddy and be cleaned or disposed of after play.
Make mud paintings! Put out some brushes or sticks and big sheets of paper, or allow children to paint on the sidewalk.
Make an animal swamp! Include plastic toy animals in the play.
Enjoy a mud slide! It’s just like a Slip-N-Slide but way, way messier.
What else can you think of? We’d love to see photos of you and your children enjoying International Mud Day. Share them on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/TPSCommunity