Happy International Mud Day! I couldn’t let this day (marking the celebration of outdoors, nature and mess by getting really muddy) pass us by, as mud is probably the twins’ favourite plaything.
When Cathy from Nurturestore shared the link to this article about why you should stop giving your child a bath every night a while ago on her Facebook page, it struck a chord because that very day, the twins had spent hours happily playing in the mud. I’m a big believer in dirt being good for kids, so an article that same week about how the exposure to the bacteria in mud and dirt is good for our children’s immune systems just reaffirmed my thoughts.
My two small people love getting dirty. In fact, they’re such huge fans of the mud kitchen they have at school (I’m told it’s hard to persuade Ez to ever leave it), that Ben decided to build them one at home after he managed to nab an old sink from a friend whose kitchen was recently ripped out.
In the morning, the twins drew plans of how they wanted their mud kitchen to look, while Ben cleared all the weeds that had taken over a raised bed in our garden (ironically I think I was indoors cleaning – I really need to remember that happy people have messy homes). As soon as the weeds were vanquished, the kids moved in, various pots and pans were gathered, a big bucket of water was delivered and they got down to the serious business of mud making – and construction of the kitchen itself began in earnest.
Their imaginations took over and the mud play kept them occupied for hours. Pies, pancakes, cakes and sauces were all cooked up, before their attentions turned to covering themselves in as much mud as possible – I’m sure they’d be totally tickled to know that this is what people pay money to have done in spas, too!
The finished mud kitchen is a feat of engineering that slots alongside the raised bed in our garden. The wearing of nice dresses isn’t usually encouraged in the mud, but for the purposes of posing for blog photographs, it was allowed on this occasion! Just yesterday they covered themselves from head to toe in oozy mud and we had to hose them down outside before heading up to have a bath.
As far as I’m concerned, feet like this are a sign of a very good day.
This is brilliant!!! She’s not even 2, and I know Lily would love this too…we’ve created a little outdoor kitchen for her, but hoping to move it down the garden & into some sort of muddy patch! Thanks so much for the inspiration H! {love that last shot of the feet…such happy toes!!} Happy summer x
Hurrah for mud-lovers everywhere!