Mud Day 2022

This year’s Mud Day was a total hit! This event happens once a year during our summer program and we all treat it like it’s a special holiday!

Do you remember when you were a child you all you wanted to do was step in that big puddle of muddy water? Feeling that sensation of squishing mud between your fingers? Or even making mud pies? Well CMP gets to bring those wishes to reality!

Our owner, Arianne Bettazzi pre orders our mud from A1 Soils in San Diego. Each year we get 1 ton of mud! The mud that is ordered is actually sand that is a fine textured silty tan sand. When it is delivered the children help create the mud by adding water to it. The teachers on all three playgrounds place the mud in kiddie pools, sensory bins, and in the mud kitchen. The children are free to do what they like with the mud. A few of our favorites are mud fights, transporting mud from one area to another, and creating our own spa and soak in a mud bath!

Mud and waterplay can often be overlooked at due to cleanliness and health concerns, but there are actually lots of health and child development benefits!

There are so many benefits for children being exposed to mud at an early age.

– Cognitive skills- Helps build problem solving skills- While having to share the mud with other friends, there are a lot of social skills happening between sharing, taking turns, who does what, etc. It invites children to open ended playing with the questions that arise and solving problems on their own or with other children.
– Emotional Development- Encourages creativity- Children love to create! Using their imagination to create mud sculptures, mud recipes, mud pictures, and even body painting!
– Physical development- Gross and fine motor skills- There are multiple tasks while working with mud like weighing, stirring, and adding loose parts.
– Social Development- Listening and taking turns- Playing with mud is a sensory experience where children can explore. They have the opportunity to learn from other children and take turns with one another.
– Mud promotes happy emotions! Children love sensory experiences where they can use their imagination, build, and create.
– Encourages children to care for our surrounding environment. This promotes children to plant seeds, harvest a garden, and connect with nature.
– Helps build a stronger immune system. Children are being exposed to different bacteria and germs that is beneficial to the immune system.
– Sensory play is fun! It is known that sensory play can help build nerve connections in a child’s brain development and promotes language, emotional, social, fine and gross-motor skills.
– Benefits skin and heart. Adults pay a good amount of money to visit spas where they get to dip into mud. For centuries people around the world have been using mud as a healing method for their bodies. Mud helps sooth and relax the body. Mud is magic!