Mud Pie Nature Art Sensory Activity
Making mud pies is one of my favorite memories from childhood. Is there anything better than the feeling of mud squishing between your hands as you mold it into a mud pie?
My brothers and I did not have a mud pie kitchens or pots and pans to use. We simply dug a hole in the ground and added water to it. We used sticks to mix the water with the soil, and formed the earth into shapes using the perfect mix of mud and water using our bare hands.
Although my daughter has an outdoor art table and mud kitchen that we made when my husband and I ran an in-home daycare, you don’t need one to make beautiful mud pies. I never did. A hole in the ground, some sticks, and your bare hands will work just fine!
Mud Pie Nature Art Sensory Activity
First you will need to go on a nature hunt to collect natural items to decorate your mud pies. I have provided affiliate links to a few other simple supplies that we like to use if you need them.
This post is a part of the Get Outside & Connect Series. Click on the link for more information.
Mud Pie Nature Art Sensory Activity Supplies
- Water
- Soil/dirt
- Sticks
- Natural items such as rocks, shells, leaves, grass, and flowers
- Old towel/rag
- Kids waterproof apron or and/or mud play clothes
- 2 small containers of water. (Optional)
- Glass gems (optional)
- Outdoor table or mud kitchen (optional)
- Old bowls, pots, pans, muffin tins (Optional–thrift stores and garage sales are great places to look if you don’t have any)
- Old mixing spoon (Optional–a good stick works just as well.)
- Camera (optional)
Mud Pie Nature Art Sensory Activity Directions
To be honest, I feel kind of silly giving directions for how to make mud pies. If you give a child a stick and some water outside they will be able to figure it out on their own. We did didn’t we?
With that said, I had a lot of fun making mud pie nature art with my daughter. Here’s what we did:
1. Go on a nature hunt for some fresh flowers and other natural items to decorate your mud pies with.
2. Gather any supplies you will be using and place on mud pie kitchen or other work surface. The ground works just fine!
3. Dig a hole and add water, or add some soil and water into a bowl. Mix well. Keep adding more soil or water until you get the mud to the consistency that you want. You can also add in some sand to play with another texture if you like.
4. Use your hands or an old spoon to place mud into old pots and pans if you are using them. We re-use the pie pans we get when we order pies from our local bakery–MmmmMmm! You can also find good bowls, pots, and pans at thrift stores and garage sales.
If you are not using pans, allow your children to become chemists mixing the perfect amount of dirt and water to mold mud pies with their bare hands.
5. Enjoy the sensory experience of the mud. Allow your children to mix grab and play with the mud as much as they like! Playing with mud provides a valuable sensory experience for a developing child.
6. Decorate mud pies by placing natural items and other fun things like glass gems. Action figures, legos, and cars work great too! This is a wonderful process art activity.
7. Small sticks are great for drawing on your mud pies.
8. (Optional) Use one container of water to dip hands into when they get really muddy and an old towel to wipe them. They won’t be clean but they won’t be caked in mud either. Since my daughter likes to decorate her mud pies over and over again we used another container of water to drop muddy items into so they can be reused to decorate mud pies again and again. Who needs more than a few pans of mud when you can re-use the same one’s over and over?
9. Allow your children to engage in imaginative pretend play while they are making and playing with their mud pies. My daughter plays for hours just like I did as a little girl.
10. (Optional) Take pictures of your creations.
11. Clean up. Making mud pies can be messy but fun!
Mud pie nature art is a fun outside activity that provides a valuable sensory experience for the developing child. It’s process nature art, a sensory activity, and imaginative pretend play all in one activity! Make some mud pies today!
This post is a part of the A-Z of Outdoor Activities Blog Hop. Click on the link to see all of the other fun outdoor activities to try!
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- DIY Rainbow Peg Dolls
- Green, Crafty & Creative
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