Dirt play is an ongoing series of experiments. Dirt is part of science. Dirt is part of childhood. Being dirty means they got outside instead of sitting in front of an electronic screen. Dirt is something brothers can share and there is always enough to go around. Dirt is universal.
This is going to sound like a change of subject, but it's not. Today I decided the boys and I would have an impromptu ice cream party outside after lunch. The flavor was chocolate Oreo. Seeing that they were already covered with a wet brown mess (to be fair, it was mainly the younger one who was covered in it, but there were signs on our five-year-old as well)...
...led to my second aha! moment of the day. Why not let the boys play with dirt and mud after the ice cream?
We got out a couple of toy shovels and containers and put a little bit of water in our dirt circle. (By the way, the dirt circle was not our choice for backyard decor, but it is our sons' favorite outside toy, along with rocks and sticks.)
You can see I was conservative about the amount of mud! Someday soon I plan to get into it more in-depth and make mud castles and everything.
Recommended related book: i love dirt! 52 activities to help you & your kids discover the wonders of nature by Jennifer Ward
Clarification: I didn't just think this up out of thin air. My husband and I have talked together about what we want to teach our children and what is important to us as a family. He specifically mentioned them playing in dirt the other day. :) A beloved family member gave us the book mentioned above and it has a section on ways to play with dirt and mud (educationally, of course).
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