The girls stood on the edge and carefully poked the soft mud with a stick. Using the stick as an extension of their body in a safe and clean way of exploring the area. Children use this approach a lot. Or use their parents hands to test out things they are uncertain about.
Mud really is an amazing free resource that we just don’t seem to use as much as we should.
Mud improves our mental health by connecting us with nature and increasing our levels of Serotonin, creating a calmer and happier disposition! Now who DOESN’T want that for their children? and an added bonus is that Serotonin also improves cognitive function so your kids get smarter too!
It also improves or immunity. Our overly clean society has been linked to more illness and more allergies. A sensible exposure to a range of different bacteria is proven to help foster a healthy development in a child’s immune system resulting in less susceptibility to illness and disease in later life.
Open ended, hands on creative play and exploration develops brains! It is that simple! Fine motor skills develop and these are super important for learning to use our hands for writing, crafting, drawing, using tools……. Endless reasons to support fine motor development!
Mud is a unique Art medium and exploring its properties and the way it feels and moves is great for creative thinking. Science is right in there too. Mix water or sand to mud and how does it change?
Most of all you are creating endless memories of fun fore your children and all at no cost what so ever! FREE FUN!! And by getting children outside in nature then they can appreciate the importance of our world! After all, they will be the ones looking after it once we have gone!
So go find a corner of your garden or fill up a bowl with some good mud and add some water. Let the children take their shoes off and clime in. Feel the mud cold and squidgy between their toes! Get in yourself and enjoy the fun! Lead by example! I promise you it is great fun!!
