Glorious Mud!

In celebration of International Mud Day on 29th June 2011 and of the really glorious weather here today we have been doing some muddy play!

 

I provided tools, mud, sand, buckets, a wheelbarrow and some sticks.  The children made their own decisions about what to do with the equipment.

First they worked together using the trowels to put mud into an empty bucket.  Then they added some sand.

Then some water and mixed it up into a muddy soup!

Boy said 'it's too runny - we need some more mud to make it thick!'  And he began adding more mud to the mixture until a thick paste was formed.  Fantastic stuff!

Then they chose to work separately.  Girl took her trowel and placed small piles of the mud paste in different parts of the garden.

In the herb garden.

On top of the outdoor drum kit - which is currently out of use since we discovered a Hedgehog nesting in the bushes behind it.  We are being careful not to disturb it's sleep!

Behind the trampoline too!

She enjoyed using the wheelbarrow to transport the mud paste around the garden.

Boy did something altogether different which I hadn't imagined he would do!  I like it when he does surprising and interesting things though.  He carried trowel fulls of mud paste over to one of the paving slabs on the patio and splatted them onto the ground.

He carried on until the whole square was covered (enveloping schema!).

Then he carefully smoothed it down and patted it so it was level.  Then I asked what he was going to do with it and he said.  'Decorate it with flowers and leaves and stuff, you know?'  He went off and picked some things from the garden.

Girl and I went off to play something else and we left him to it to be creative alone.

This is his creation.  A sort of mud and natural material collage I guess.  Interesting to see what happens when children have a chance to do their own thing!

How will you join in in celebrating Mud Day?