Wellkind

Mud Play

03.10.21

Mud Play Benefits

Environmental Impact Pillar

Dear WellKind Families,

We just wanted to send a quick note to apologize for the muddy clothing in recent days. We may have gotten a bit over excited about the ability to get back outdoors! Also, we wanted to ask for your understanding and excitement as we enter into the season of Spring and get messy in our explorations. At WellKind, we follow the ever developing research on the importance of messy and frequent outdoor play. Did you know that outdoor play fosters curiosity and imagination? It also encourages communication, language development, practices good concentration, and promotes physical development. For all of those reasons, please dress your child for the elements keeping in mind that play gets messy, as it should if it’s a meaningful experience. Thank you for your partnership and support as we embrace the outdoors and all of the fun (and mud) that comes along with it!

Read more about the benefits of MUD PLAY for your child!

Mud makes us healthier and calmer.

Not only does playing in the mud stimulate our immune system, provide valuable minerals, and improve our health, but it actually makes us happier and more emotionally balanced. Hard to believe? Scientists have discovered that bacteria Mycobacterium vaccae found in mud protects against stress, reduces anxiety, and makes you calmer!

Mud increases brain activity.

Pies, dam building, brick making, and playing with mud is a sensory-rich experience that promotes a higher level of brain functioning such as problem-solving, flexibility of thinking, abstract thinking, concept formation, and complex perception. Mud stimulates the blood flow to the brain and helps us think better!

Mud fosters creativity.

Mud doesn’t come with a set of printed instructions. It naturally encourages exploration and experimentation. A handful of mud can be turned into a pie, a building brick, or paint for a fence.

Mud play fosters self-directed learning.

Self-directed learners expand and improve their own education. When children play with mud, they learn at their own pace without adult interruption, fueled only by their own curiosity, and motivated only by their own interest. This is the kind of activity that nurtures self-direction. Being self-directed learners means being able to motivate and organize oneself to learn anything (any skill or subject) at any time at will.