Mud: Nature's Soul-Salve

A week ago, I was planting in the garden when, before I knew it, 4-yr-old Chloe was stomping naked in the mud. Her 7-yr-old sister joined in (clothed) and began to make a collection of mud pies decorated with geranium and calendula petals. My mother-in-law saw her worst nightmare, but for me — and my kids — it was instant soul-salve.

There’s something about mud that beats sand. Maybe it’s the increased viscosity, the ‘sculptability’, or maybe it’s the deep color, but my kids can’t get enough measuring, shaping, pouring, and decorating. I remember as a girl enjoying not only the process of creating a mud masterpiece, but cocooning myself in a story to go along with it. Are we ‘lost children’ making pies? Should we gather berries and nuts to store for the winter?

And so our mud kitchen was born. It took us 15 minutes and we didn’t buy a thing.

The educator Maria Montessori believed that natural objects allow children to better understand abstract ideas; they see a wooden bowl and can understand that it was first a tree. And natural materials also have the additional benefit of reducing our exposure to toxic chemicals, so I prefer wood, woven material, metal, and the occasional sturdy glass object in our play.

For our kitchen, we gathered:
- Two old tables pushed together for a surface
- A basket of old spoons in different sizes
- Metal bowls and plates, an old colander, a muffin tin, a metal pitcher for pouring, an old whisk
- shovels
- an old wine rack to hold plates
- child sized chairs (not really needed, but still used)

We filled a huge bowl with water and voila! They seized their gardening shovels attacked the nearby dirt, mixing up mud and creating for hours.

In a world where we organize children from one activity to the next, just setting aside the free time to enter the kitchen — knowing we’ll need mud-off baths afterwards — feels like a peaceful accomplishment. The process of actually touching the earth feels so grounding. I see it in my 7-year-old after a long day. I often find her calmly patting mud in that cozy garden spot.

Whenever I meet another parent who, with a gleam in their eye, understands the beauty of mud on little toes, the doorknob, the kitchen floor, and the bathmat, I smile. And when my daughter recently quoted my favorite line: “You’re not really dirty unless the water runs brown” I laughed in glee. But what do you think? Am I just a mud romantic, or are experiences like this important?

Read more: Babies, Children, Family, Healthy Schools

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

KS G.

1:35AM PST on Jan 1, 2012

Thanks for the article.

send a green star

Hilary S.

1:23PM PDT on Aug 2, 2011

Mud is very nice to feel
All squishy-squash between the toes!
I'd rather wade in wiggly mud
Than smell a yellow rose.
Nobody else but the rosebush knows
How nice mud feels
Between the toes.

Polly Chase Boyden

Anda Z.

1:02AM PDT on Jul 31, 2011

loved this article...when I'll have a baby he/she for sure will do all these as I did them as a kid :P and had one of my best times and relaxing one too... I miss those days but am kinda recreating them each time I do my gardening :P and God, I can forget abt myself for the whole day ;))

Mary B.

5:30PM PDT on Jul 30, 2011

Ah mud! The healing elixor of Earth.We come from earth, and if we're not enbalmed, to earth we will return.I would suggest how ever, not washing mud down bath or shower drains, especially if you have a septic tank and drain field. Make an outdoor shower space and spray off with a hose. There is usually a few gallons of warm water in it. You could also use a tiny kiddy pool of sun heated water for initial clean up, then finish with a hose.Definately keep mud and sand out of eyes.Lots of microbes in mud that are good for cleaning up your skin. I'm going to make a Big Girl out door Mud Spa.I live in the country so I can do this...

Chris R.

8:09AM PDT on Jul 30, 2011

Thanks Hilary!~

Bettyann W.

9:53AM PDT on Jul 28, 2011

quite important! Cherish, cherish.

Lindsey W.

8:44AM PDT on Jul 28, 2011

thank you.

Giovanna M.

8:31AM PDT on Jul 28, 2011

I've never seen the problem in getting dirty as long as the mess can be cleaned up afterwards.
Mud's fun.

7:39AM PDT on Jul 28, 2011

I wonder how much of the dislike over getting muddy that we see today has to do with a lack of patience with the consequences "Ack! NOW we need to clean you up!" versus a fear of getting dirty and somehow that being risky. Could it be that we are evolving children so quickly into a more 'convenient' adult-like world of structured childcare and errands that parents allow less time for this sort of thing?

Ernie M.

6:15AM PDT on Jul 28, 2011

Mmmmm Worm mud squishing up between your toes! it really dont get better than that