Photo by Elsie Iudicello

Photo by Elsie Iudicello

Photo by Lesli Richards

“I like having time to be wild and messy and dirty and be someplace else in my mind. Because then eventually I want to come back home where I belong. Where I can be clean and warm and safe and loved and feel peace in my heart. After I have felt all those things for a while then I’m ready to be messy and wild again. That’s the kind of circle I love for growing up. ”

— Age 8

There is something about mud that is strangely satisfying to children.   Mud is a substance that has survived the test of time like few other man-made playthings.  I remember once when I was a child, I told my godmother that I had nothing to do. She looked at me and said “Have you ever made mud pies?” She took me out to the wooden circle bench around the big sprawling oak tree, and set up a makeshift kitchen under the shady branches.  With sun peeking through on our work, we mixed and poured and giggled, using old pie tins, pots and pans and wooden spoons.  When the day was done, I do believe that my dear old godmother was as dirty as I was.   She had enjoyed reliving her childhood, remembering making mud pies along with her best friend, my grandmother.  To this day, I can recall the feeling of the cool mud, its musty smell, and the strange stiffness on my sun dried skin.  Anthony Esolen describes memories of this type of deep play as one of the only things that an old man can look back on without regret, and with complete satisfaction. I agree.

Fast forward forty years, and I watch my six-year-old discover several large mud puddles on our driveway. She is bent over them, in a tutu and sparkly boots…carefully scooping the mud into Inca like structures in the middle of the water. She has no idea I am watching her, so immersed in deep imaginary play and sensory satisfaction.  Such a strange elemental play thing is the earth beneath our feet. It is a marvelous gift that God gives us to entertain our children with. I love to give children natural God-made materials to play with, because scripture tells us that he communicates his invisible attributes to us through the things he has made. I think our children sense this deep in their souls.

It’s hard though, living in our screen riddled hand sanitized world, to remember that mud is so good for us in so many ways.   Playing with mud offers a perfectly balanced sensory experience.  It inspires our creativity and helps us learn to problem solve and take risks.  It provides excellent sensory feedback, which results in an integrated, calm child who is ready to take on challenges. This type of sensory free play, with no rulebooks, actually changes the connections of the neurons in your frontal cortex.  It may look messy, but there is some serious construction work going on inside those little brains as they get elbows deep in mud.  And germ-a-phobic mothers, take heart.  Studies have shown that children who grow up on farms and play in dirt regularly have less incidents of asthma, allergies and are least likely to have auto immune disorders.

This week, as our weather starts to warm up, mix your child up a big batch of the good stuff.  Let him have some old pots and pans and wooden spoons.  Get out there with him and enjoy the feeling of the sun on your back. And someday, he’ll show your grandchildren how to make mud pies.

Activity to use from A Year of Playing Skillfully by Kathy Lee and Lesli Richards

Muddy Buggy Creek: Fill the bottom of a sensory bin with dirt.

Next, bury some plastic bugs and worms in the dirt.

Fill the bin with water, covering the dirt completely.

Invite your learner to dig for bugs. Hopefully they will be inspired to create a mud pie or two!

“Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water bugs, tadpoles, frogs, mud turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb. Brooks to wade, water lilies, woodchucks, bats, bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hayfields, pine-cones, rocks to roll, sand, snakes, huckleberries and hornets; and any child who has been deprived of these has been deprived of the best part of education.
”

— Luther Burbank

Toddlers and Preschoolers love sensory water play. This does not have to be restricted to outdoors or the bathroom. Beach towels are one of our favorite tools for preschool sensory water play! At the Homegrown Preschooler, we keep a big stack around just so we can say “Yes” more often! If you double fold a few beach towels on the floor and give a little one a sturdy tub with a few inches of water in it, they will happily spoon and pour. As their little hands splash in the water, deep inside their brains, neurons form synapses! This is powerful brain building play! We will use this sensory play to help our children focus during our family devotion.

Today in Unwrapping the Greatest Gift we point our families back to Noah and God’s care for him in the flood.

God’s love for you made Him weep over all our sadness and sin, and His heart filled with ache and spilled like a flood. And God offered everyone a gift, a rescue, a massive wooden ark – an ark much like a cradle on water – and He whispered, “Come to the ark.”

Offer your little ones a little water to play with. It doesn’t take much to make them happy…not enough to do any damage, and your towels are right there to take care of any accidental splashing. Remind them that they can play quietly with the water while you read, and that the water will help them listen. We provided a few sea animals, measuring cups, spoons and a turkey baster. Be creative and use what you have around the house.

When I think about Thanksgiving, I think about kindness and thankfulness. I am pretty sure most parents reading this share my desire for children to develop these character traits as early as possible. The questions is, how do we teach these concepts to young children? We know that young learners need lessons taught in a concrete manner in order for their brain to latch on to the information. I thought it might be helpful to share some of my favorite ideas for living out kindness and thankfulness with your children (and renewing them in you) this Thanksgiving season.

1. Make “Pass Them On” Cookies.  I came up with this idea during my college public speaking class and it was a huge hit. First, make a batch of cookies with your kids and bag them up in a festive manner. Next, tie a blank notecard on half of the bags of cookies. Lastly, decide who needs some kindness shown to them on this particular day. Take each recipient two bags of cookies (one with a tag and one without). Invite each person to enjoy one bag of cookies for themselves and share the other one (the one with the tag) with someone else. I don’t know about you, but the minute I receive kindness from someone, I want to give kindness away. I bet they will feel the same way and you will have helped them out, twice!

2. Write Thank You Notes. This is such a fun activity to do with young children. Let your children decide who needs a thank you and what needs to be said. Write down your child’s words and invite them to decorate the note, adding a special touch. Mail the notes or hand deliver them, if you prefer. You could even combine this activity with the Pass Them On Cookies.

3. Set an extra plate for Thanksgiving. During family time, talk about people in your lives that might be alone this Thanksgiving. It might be a neighbor, a friend, or someone at your church. Reach out to at least one person this year and invite them to join your family for Thanksgiving. Your invitation might be the only thing that keeps them from being all alone this year.

4. Help someone. Do you know anyone who needs help with their  lawn, maybe raking leaves for them? What about cleaning someone’s house or shopping for a mom who has a newborn? So many ways to help. Ask your children and I guarantee they will come up with a clever way to help someone this Thanksgiving season.

Do you know anyone who needs help with their lawn,

maybe raking leaves for them?

5. Give up your spot. An easy way to teach your children kindness, is to let them see you give up your spot in line. Now, if you have two screaming kids with you and a full cart, this is NOT the time to give up your spot. However, if all is going well invite the person behind you to go first. Actions do speak loudly.

6. Give a gift card. Last Mother’s day, I decided to randomly hand out Starbucks gift cards to moms of screaming toddlers in Target, it was the coolest. I received hugs and thank yous like you can’t imagine. I KNOW that I got more out of giving those cards than they did from receiving them. Randomly give a gift card to someone. It’s awesome. Let your kids give a gift card to their favorite grocery store employee or the postal worker. Giving is contagious and FUN!

7. Offer a smile. Have a talk with your little ones about the beauty of our smile. Have you ever been in a bad mood and look up to see someone offering a smile? I don’t know about you, but it lights me up and it can instantly turn my frown upside down. I suggest you and your kids have a smiling contest the next time you go out together. See how many times you can get a smile in return. Make a game out of it. Everyone will win at this game!

8. Take a cart. This one is so easy. The next time you and your kids go to a store, take a few minutes before you go in and offer to return someone’s cart. For safety reasons, you and your kids will do this one together. Such a fun way to help someone else, spend special time with your own children, make some memories, and teach a lesson. For fun, invite your child to climb into the cart and give them a ride to the cart return.

9. Create a Thankful Tree. This is such a fun idea and can be done in a variety of ways. Two of my favorites are: If you have a large window, you can paint a big tree and use paint markers to write down your family’s thankful list. You can also have each child paint a tree trunk on a large piece of construction paper. Glue leaves (real or paper) onto the paper and add their items of thankfulness. Laminating these placemats will make them suitable for use and they will look great on your Thanksgiving table.

10. Reach out. Simply, reach out. Who needs kindness? Maybe it is someone right inside your home. When you mess up, reach out to your kids and ask for forgiveness. If you and a friend haven’t been talking, let your kids witness you apologizing or offering forgiveness. Whatever it is, whoever it is… dare to reach out.

These ten simple acts will help your children see kindness, and thankfulness in action. This is the BEST way to teach our young ones in those early years and hopefully they will carry these lessons into adulthood. People often think that giving needs to be grand and expensive, but truly the smallest acts of kindness can make the biggest impact. Start today. May we all strive to be kind and thankful! Blessings to you and your family this Thanksgiving!

- Kathy