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. 🙂
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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
Wow, that looks like so much fun!!! I would even get willingly muddy on that kind of mud day.
Thanks, Jessica! We all really did have a blast! It’s such fun to get to do goofy, themed days like this at preschool. 🙂 Even if I did have to wash that shirt twice to get it clean!
This looks amazing. I would definitely willingly get dirty for this! So glad to have found your blog from the the Weekend Blog Block Party, and I’m excited to follow all of your adventures.
xo, Hima
P.S. I just started a blog and joined the cool kids club. I’d love for you to swing by and leave me a comment with some feedback! Thank you so much.
Hima Hearts
Hi Hima! Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and leave such kind words. I will definitely hop over in a bit and check out what you’re up to. 🙂 I’m glad you joined up with the Blog Block Party — it’s a great way to meet others!
This is my kind of post! All of these activities are right up my alley! Loving those seed bombs! And I had intended to fill our baby pool with mud this year too. It didn’t happen, but after seeing you do it here, we’re definitely going to give it a try next year!
Hahaha, Jackie, I love it! Messy play is definitely fun for me, and I know your hooligans looove it. 🙂 I just can’t get over how cool those seed bombs are either. I already have some of your muddy-fun activities in our plans for next year’s Dirt and Mud Day at preschool! Who am I kidding — we’ll be trying them out this summer!
We have “mud day every year near the end of school. It is a blast. We also have what we call “clean mud” actually cornstarch and water. We also have a bin of wet sand, for children who are unsure about getting dirty or playing in the mud. Usually if we can get them started in one of those two bins they will then start to explore in the mud. We too have to hose the kids down at the end of the day. We have dirt pots to eat just as you do. It is a lot of fun and is a good way to end the year. Thanks for your posting.
Thanks, Claudia! This was the first year we had a Dirt & Mud Day, but I hope it becomes an annual tradition. I like how you had clean “mud” and sand for those kiddos who were unsure about getting dirty. That might need to be in our plans for next year, too. Thanks again for stopping by! 🙂
Such fun activities! I love the seed bombs! I’ve been wanting to try those for a long time!
Thanks Melissa. You should definitely try the seed bombs . . . we had tons of fun with them. 🙂
I LOVE the pic of you running away, you’re a great sport
Thanks, Melinda. It cracked me up how excited the kids were once they realized I didn’t care about getting dirty! We all definitely had a lot of fun getting muddy. 🙂
oh man does that look like fun! dirt plus water is the best way to play 🙂
I have to agree — sometimes getting muddy is way too fun to pass up!!
Wow, you are one brave lady! Thanks so much for sharing with the Pin it Party 🙂
Well, I don’t know if I’d say “brave”! 😉 There were a lot of parents and teachers overseeing the Mud Day! But the kiddos had way too much fun, and I definitely enjoyed myself too!
Looks like so much fun for everyone & like you said, great to see the girls getting messy too. Bravo to your whole school for getting involved. Thanks for adding this to the Outdoor Play Party too.
Thanks Kierna! I always love checking out the Outdoor Play Party. We really did have a lot of fun, especially those girls! They cracked me up the entire day. 🙂
What a blast!! Thanks for linking to Share It Saturday. I am featuring your post tomorrow.
Thanks so much, Karyn!! 🙂 I’m excited to be featured . . . the kiddos really did have a blast with the mud day! 🙂