How to Make a Mud Pie: Nature Art Activity for Kids

Making mud pies in a mud hole or in a mud kitchen is a fun outdoor art idea and nature sensory activity for kids.

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? It’s a childhood sensory activity not to be missed!

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How to Make Mud Pies

To be honest, I feel kind of silly giving directions for how to make a mud pie! 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?

My brothers and I did not have a mud pie kitchens or pots and pans to use. We simply dug a mud 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 mud hole, some sticks, and your bare hands will work just fine!

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Mud Pie Nature Art Supplies

• Water
• Soil/dirt
• Sticks
• Natural items such as rocks, shells, leaves, grass, and flowers
• Old mixing spoon or stick
• Old towel/rag
• Kids waterproof apron or and/or mud play clothes
• 2 small containers of water. (Optional)
• Glass gems or multicolored glass stones (optional)
• Outdoor table or mud kitchen (optional)
• Old bowls, pots, pans, muffin tins (Optional)
• Camera (optional)

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Mud Pie Nature Art Activity Step by Step Directions

As mentioned above, making mud pies comes naturally to most kids. Give them a stick and some water in a place they can dig and they are good to go!

How do you make mud pies?

1. Go on a nature hunt to collect fresh flowers, rocks, sticks, shells, and other natural items to decorate your mud pies with.
2. Gather mud pie supplies and place them on a mud pie kitchen counter or another work surface. The ground also works great!
3. Dig a hole and add water to make a mud hole, or add some soil and water into a bowl. Mix well with a stick or an old spoon. Keep adding more soil or water until the mud is the consistency that you like. You can also add in some sand to play with another texture.
4. Use your hands or an old spoon to place mud into old pots and pans if you are using them. If you are not using pans, allow your children to become chemists mixing the perfect amount of dirt and water to mold mud pies and create sculptures with their bare hands.
5. Decorate mud pies or create shapes and sculptures. Mudpies can be decorated by placing natural materials like rocks and flowers and other fun items such as glass gems, action figures, and cars! Making mud pies is a great process art activity for kids.
6. (Optional) Take pictures of your creations.
7. Clean up. Making mud pies is messy but fun!

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Mud Pie Nature Art and Nature Sensory Activity Tips

• Recycle pie pans from your local bakery to use for making mudpies.
• Look for bowls, pots, and pans at thrift stores and garage sales.
• Small sticks are great for drawing on mud pies to make pictures or practice writing.
• (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 ones over and over?
• Playing with mud provides a valuable sensory experience for a developing child. Allow your children to mix grab and play with the mud as much as they like!
• Allow your children to engage in imaginative or 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.

Mud Pie Making for Kids

Making mudpies is an outside nature art activity that provides a valuable sensory experience for the developing child. It’s process art, a sensory activity, and imaginative play all in one super fun activity. Make some mud pies today!

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