M is for Mud Sensory Play Ideas
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Today I am welcoming Ellen from Cutting Tiny Bites to share with you all as part of the A-Z's of Sensory Play for Kids series. She is sharing some great mud sensory play ideas.
Leave it to me to have the only two children on the planet who wouldn't want to get messy with mud! I know that my girls don't like to get messy, so when I originally agreed to write a post about “M is for Messy” I knew that it would be a challenge. I was hoping that necessity would provide some inspiration. Eventually, I decided that they wouldn't be able to resist a giant table full of fresh, squishy, sloppy mud.
But I was wrong! Even though they didn't get messy, they had a great time playing with the mud. It was squishy and sloppy, and an overall fantastic sensory experience.
I have seen mud kitchens before, and I love the idea. For our particular yard and neighborhood, however, making a mud kitchen just wouldn't work. On our first warm day this year, I was cleaning off our patio and realized that I could make a lovely, temporary, and easy mud play space for them by using our water table.
I started by filling our water table with quality dirt (purchased specifically for this project from a garden center – most dirt is fine, but you don't want ‘garden soil' or ‘potting soil' as it usually has fertilizers mixed in). Then I set out a little table filled with bowls, spoons, cups, and a pitcher of water. I dressed my girls in old clothes and set them free!
Since our water table was on a slight hill, some parts of the mud ended up wetter than others. The girls were able to explore the different textures and consistencies of the different types of mud that they created. They commented on the smell of the dirt, and how it changed when it got wet. They made lumps and wells and examined all the little bits within the mud.
Exploring mud is a fantastic sensory experience for your kids, whether they choose to get messy or not!
Heather Greutman, COTA
Heather Greutman is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant with experience in school-based OT services for preschool through high school. She uses her background to share child development tips, tools, and strategies for parents, educators, and therapists. She is the author of many ebooks including The Basics of Fine Motor Skills, and Basics of Pre-Writing Skills, and co-author of Sensory Processing Explained: A Handbook for Parents and Educators.