Preschool Mud Day!

In honor of International Mud Day (June 29th), I thought I’d share some muddy fun! We had our very own Preschool Mud Day towards the end of the school year . . . and it was a BLAST! There was art, sensory play, gardening, science. Most of all there was TONS of FUN! Here are some of the activities the kiddos participated in. Oh, who am I kidding? The teachers and parents got in on the fun too!

SEED BOMBS
As soon as I saw The Frugal Girls’ “DIY Seed Bombs” post, I knew we had to make some! It was definitely a messy experience — I’d like to blame the kids for that, but I’m pretty sure I’m the one who made the most mess. Once our seed bombs were dry, we used them as part of our Mother’s Day gifts. The kids had fun making the seed bombs, but I know a few of them were disappointed there were no explosions. 🙂

MINI MUD PIT
My boss, our preschool director, goes all out for fun days like this. She encouraged everyone to make the most of mud day, and the kids loved seeing how excited she got! So I wasn’t too surprised when she grabbed a big bucket of water and added it to a pile of dirt by the fence. She had the kids jumping in it and giggling in no time. She totally egged them on and made sure they got as messy as they wanted to. I LOVED that so many of my girls threw themselves into this experience. They got incredibly muddy and had the hugest grins on their faces all day!

DIGGING FOR WORMS
We had a few worm-lovers in our class, so I had promised we would make a worm jar. I was originally inspired by We Made That’s “DIY Earthworm Habitat”. I used a glass vase we already had in the classroom, but I used many of her suggestions in the process. Our boys and girls were incredibly engaged in looking for worms all morning. At first, they were disheartened at not finding any. Once the ground was broken up a bit, they were happy campers! Every single worm was shown to me before it got placed in our worm jar. The kids loved looking at the worms the rest of the week. The jar ended up going home with one of our girls who was so into worms (don’t worry, we checked with her mom first)! 🙂

DIG AND FIND
We placed mud into a kiddie pool, along with a variety of toys. The toys were originally covered up with mud, so the kids had to dig to find them. After that, it become more of a small world sensory bin with dinosaurs and trucks. This activity ended up being great for those children who wanted to play in the mud without actually being IN the mud. They were definitely engaged all throughout our muddy preschool day.

MUD PAINTING
We used the “mud paint” recipe from Fit Kids Clubhouse’s “Worm Diary, Day 2”. One of the other preschool teachers set up easels and paint brushes outside, along with buckets of “mud paint”. This proved to be a nice break for some of the kids — kind of a way to take a step back from all the crazy muddiness.

WHEELBARROW MUD CASTLES
This activity started out as a place for the kids to make mud castles and otherwise build with mud. It ended up turning into another mud pit though! 🙂 One or two of the kiddos even got all IN the mud, which was hysterical to see. Even if it wasn’t used the way it was intended, the children still enjoyed themselves.

CLEAN UP
We set out some buckets filled with water for the kids to use throughout Mud Day. At the very end of the day, though, we just hosed the kiddos down! Most of them seemed to enjoy this part, although a few were miffed about getting clean again. Then it was off to the bathrooms to change into clean, dry clothes.

CELEBRATING INDOORS
The kiddos had a yummy snack consisting of dirt and worms. This was, of course, the tried-and-true snack consisting of chocolate pudding, crushed Oreos, and gummy worms. Ever ones to buck the system, many of our children just wanted the pudding. We also set up the Coffee and Flower Sensory Bin for the children.

And, just for your amusement . . .
Keep in mind, I would usually refrain from putting any pictures of my backside here on Fun-A-Day (or anywhere else, really), but this was too funny to pass up! It’s a little blurry, since we were running (and I think Mary Poppins was giggling as she tried to snap a picture).

Notice the kid-sized muddy hand prints on my shirt. They thought it was hysterical to get me dirty! And, yes, that is a small child chasing me with a muddy paintbrush in her hand! 🙂

Have you ever gotten dirty and messy with your children or students (on purpose)? I’d love to hear what you did in the comments below!!

If you’re looking for some more MUDDY FUN ideas, please check out my Dirt & Mud Day Pinterest board. I’ll keep adding to it as more ideas pop up.

For more information on International Mud Day, check out World Forum Foundation’s site.

Shared at Share It Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, Parenting Pin-It Party, The Outdoor Play Party, Tuesday Tots