Mud Glorious Mud!

Today was the first day of school after a rainy day.  Here in San Diego, it POURED rain on Monday (we had Monday off).  It is expected to rain the rest of the week; therefore, we need to take advantage of every opportunity to get outside.

One center, as I was arriving, was going on a walk around the apartment complex in which they are located.  The children were having a blast jumping in puddles!  It was very apparent that this teacher has no problem with the children getting wet and messy…they children were comfortable and uninhibited in their adventures and very matter-of-fact when they got back in their wet clothes and just began calmly changing.

Another center I was at obviously had a bit of a different outlook…I quickly changed that :)

When I went out to the yard, there were exactly 2 of the 45 children in the HUGE sandbox area.  There are typically about 20 children in there on a sunny day.

One little boy was filling his bucket with mud and told me, “I’m making strawberries!”

One little girl found a sinkhole that was in the back of the sandbox.  She was attempting to walk OVER it without walking THROUGH it by walking wide legged over the top.  It’s important to note that this sinkhole was not filled with water, it was simply a big dip in the sand.

They both looked up at me wide-eyed when I first approached but quickly got back to what they were doing when I crouched down next to the sink hole and wondered aloud how that happened.  That got the conversation going!

Eventually, this sink hole became the place where she was “making blueberries” (which I found funny only because of this post over here yesterday)  She was crouched over the edge of it watching, shovel in hand.  Occasionally she would reach out with the shovel and rearrange some of the mud, but I can say that making blueberries mostly involves crouching down and watching.

Her teacher came over and interrupted her play to “go get your jacket”.  Really unnecessary, but I wasn’t going to take the teacher’s authority away from her so I offered, “would you like me to watch over your blueberries while you go get your jacket?”  She nodded.

By the time she got back, there were 4 more girls hanging around, but they were NOT digging in the mud.  They looked at me as I watched her and her blueberries; then they pointed to the boy making strawberries and said, “We can’t play with that!  We can’t play with the water!”

To be fair, it wasn’t water…it was MUD!

I commented, “Sure we can!”

They looked at me warily.  They looked at me in amazement.  They hesitantly said, “No, we aren’t supposed to play with the water.”

I commented, “Sure, he’s making strawberries, she’s making blueberries.  It’s just water.”

Again, the looks of amazement!  The looks of awe!  The slow steps to go get their own buckets and shovels. 

They were a bit hesitant at first as they dug that first shovelful of dirt.  Then, they realized that I really meant what I said…you CAN play with the mud!  It’s okay!

Soon, there were more than the typical 20 children over there.  They were mostly making castles, their words, not mine, and a couple of other children were helping to make blueberries (still mostly involved crouching, watching, and on very rare occasion, rearranging the mud). 

It was a GLORIOUS sight!  I love mud!

What do you do with mud?

Rainy Days

So many teachers get stressed on rainy days.  What are you going to do with the children? 

The number one mistake teachers make is trying to keep the children calm during rainy days.  This is typically when those who do use television in the classroom will bring the televisions out…BIG MISTAKE!  Besides the fact that I don’t ever use them, this is the opposite of the day you should use them.

No, the activities you need to plan need to be active.  Indoor active.  See, on a regular day you typically have some mildly active activity indoors and some super active outdoors giving the children great opportunity to burn some energy and get those bodies moving.

What you need is to have a very active indoor time (that would be the “scientific” term that is between the “scientific” terms or mildly active and super active).  Of course, you need to have some quiet activities for the children to get to as well when they need it.

I like to set up one table with a sort of table hockey.  I use the long blocks to tape up a rim around the table edge.  Then I strategically tape smaller blocks in places on the table.  Take out 2-4 foam paint brushes (the ones that are about 4 inches wide) and 1-2 small foam balls.  If you don’t have foam balls, make some balls out of newspaper or use waffle balls, golf balls, or really any small type ball.

They use the paint brushes as their paddles.  Have one child stand one either end of the table and hit the ball back and forth.  If you have more children playing, have them set up on the other sides of the table.  This is a pretty active game and will allow children to burn more energy than most indoor activities; it will also keep you a bit sane as those active children burn off that energy they haven’t been able to burn running around outside.

I also like to set up a LONG sheet of butcher paper along another wall with lots of markers and crayons.  This gets the artistic crew a chance to think big and use those large muscles as well.  I’ve even been known one year to paper the entire classroom floor with black butcher paper and give the children chalk.  That was an awesome day!

In the sensory table, I actually will put water with water wheels and cups.  There is something magical about playing with cool water (not hot or cold, it has to be room temperature or cooler) while it’s raining outside.  It’s also very hypnotic and relaxing.  Sometimes when things are getting to hectic in the classroom I fill the table with lots of buckets and scoops and water wheels and sit down with that group and play right alongside them…VERY relaxing!

In the library area, on a rainy day, I will add more pillows and LOTS of blankets.  Some children just need to relax a bit more on these days and these blankets ALWAYS end up as fort walls and they make a fun little hide out.

Don’t forget to put some glass bowls outside a window they can see out of so they can watch it fill with water throughout the day as well.

Now, of course I’m talking about those rainy days where there is so much rain that there just is no going out; however, take the opportunity when it lightens up a bit to go run in the rain and puddle jump…especially if you have dryers in your center.  Clothes can easily be thrown in the dryer while children sleep…and that’s another great thing on a rainy day…warm children waking up and putting on warm clothes.

Yes, I actually LOVE rainy day!