Mud Balls

I read somewhere recently that it was going to be “mud day”.  There are many celebrations of mud day that happen all around the world, but there doesn’t seem to be one date that they have in common. 

When you work with young children, really any day can become mud day.  Children are simply fascinated by the creation of mud from dry dirt, the textures, the various consistencies and the sticking properties!  What amazing science they are learning through their play!

Recently my students learned some of the social aspects as well, when they started throwing globs of mud at each other.  They loved the throwing of their “mud ball”, but didn’t enjoy being hit with them. 

Now a first inclination would be to stop all throwing of the mud.  However, I am always challenging myself to find a way to say, “yes” to the children’s ideas.  So, I asked the children what we did when we wanted to throw snowballs in the winter, and they remembered the bull eye’s we drew on the shed doors.  We grabbed the chalk, drew some bull eyes and had a go with our mud balls.

How have you said, “yes!” this week?