Education
Most parents and grandparents remember with fondness their childhood opportunity to play in the mud. Building, slogging, lifting feet with a sucking sound, making mud pies—these sensual experiences of our youth call up pleasure in their remembering. But lots of kids today are prevented from messing around in mud, and there are several reasons why. Societal preoccupation with cleanliness and lovely landscaping where there are few mud holes in many kids’ yards both present barriers for middle class kids. Low income children may lack a safe outdoor play environment and may also lack laundry facilities to allow for easy cleanup. Whatever the reason, many kids miss out on what was a source of not only joy but also learning for kids of previous generations. Children learn math and science concepts from mud play, as they add water or dirt to change the mud’s consistency and experiment with mass and volume as they pack mud into containers. Physical activity like sliding through mud or mud