Happy International Mud Day, everyone!
Around the farm, mud is an important part of life. Besides being a great place to roll (if you’re a horse) or a terrific spot to find worms (if you’re a chicken), mud is also a mighty fine addition to the life of us humans! I am a particular fan of being barefoot in mud – but those less inclined to feel the squish of mud between one’s toes can enjoy it in other ways, too!
For our Head Start friends, we love finding perfectly moldable mud and encouraging them to use it as they would play-doh. Although some students are a bit hesitant to begin, nearly everyone ends our time together with some sort of beautiful mud sculpture and muddy hands. We love it best when the teachers get involved too and make their own lovely creations!
Thinking back over our many muddy memories on the farm, a favorite memory emerges – one centered around a bee sting last summer. During a pass through our extreme obstacle course, one child was stung by a bee in the clover. He was fairly inconsolable over this tragedy. That is, until we suggested he have some magic mud smeared over the sting to help it feel better. This piqued his interest and his tears stopped entirely as we mixed up a little batch of mud and spread it over the sting. He very happily boarded the bus and headed back to class afterward. During his next visit, he was very eager to tell us how the mud had cured him.
Now, about a year later, we don’t have any young visitors at the farm and so find ourselves unable to celebrate International Mud Day with great style. To remedy this, we made a mud art video to engage the kids at home instead! Check out the video here!
So, on the occasion of International Mud Day, we encourage you to go out and play in the mud!
