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?

Making Slime in Elementary School

Children of all ages love messy play.  I had the joy of bringing wonderful slimy science to my son's fourth grade class today as we made Gak using the same recipe I had used with my preschoolers last month.

Of course, they were much more independent.  I wrote the recipe on the white board and they were able to help themselves to the ingredients and mix their slimy potion.  We even had an impromptu math lesson about fractions once we learned that the bowls were too small for a full portion of the recipe and we had to cut it in half.

We did some comparing and predicting, discussing differences from the ooblick they had made in science class a few months earlier.  But, for the most part, we oohhed and ahhhed over the chemical change, the feeling of the slime in our fingers, the properties of the potion as it hung off the sides of the desks and bounced.

These were children learning through their play in fourth grade.  They were predicting, measuring, observing, experimenting and discussing several scientific concepts.

Most of them pulled out a notebook to copy the recipe down to try at home with their families.
My son was so excited to show his slime to his sisters and of course, they had to recreate it with him at home. (They are 13 and 15).

The other piece that I brought to the fourth grade class today, is a literacy idea from NurtureStore about  using a story starter to encourage writing    I started a story on the class easel and the students added to it as they waited for a turn to get supplies.  At the end of the lesson, we had the beginnings of a wonderful collaborative slimy story.  They are leaving it up to add more to it next week.

I had a wonderful time playing in fourth grade today.  I feel so fortunate that there are such fantastic teachers out there, such as Ms. Fitzgerald, who understand the power of play and its value to learning...even as children get older.

Butterfly Paint-My First Guest Blogger

Today I welcome, Lini Ecker, the teacher of the twos program at our school, to be my first guest blogger. 

 My class has been observing the life cycle of the butterfly. Our caterpillars started out tiny, got nice and fat and then suspended themselves from the top of their sealed cup. We got to see them form chrysalises, but unfortunately they did not emerge as butterflies before our last day of class. That did not stop us from talking about the butterflies they would become and indulging in one of my favorite butterfly art projects.


I set out manila folders, paint cups with tongue depressors and foam rollers (which are fun, but completely optional).


The children used the tongue depressors to splatter paint spots around the inside of the folder, then they closed the folder, smoothing it first with their hands and then rolling over it with the roller.

The exciting part is opening the folder to see the symmetrical pattern the colors made as they spread and blended together.

Usually the children like to go back  and forth a few times adding more paint splatters, then closing and rolling it until they are satisfied with the results. The folders are sturdy and can stand up to a good amount of paint without ripping as paper would.

After the paint dried I cut the folders into butterfly shapes and hung them all around the room. Older children can cut them with a little assistance. I buy manilla folders from Costco, they are very inexpensive and great for many art projects.

Thank you, Lini, for this great idea!