IT’S MORE THAN JUST AN EXCUSE TO GET DIRTY
Did you know that there is an international day dedicated to celebrating mud? June 29 is International Mud Day, and it’s more than just an excuse to get really, really dirty.
International Mud Day may not seem to have an obvious connection to animals or zoos, but connecting kids with nature allows them to become stronger environmental stewards who are capable of changing the world someday. Mud Day is definitely making those connections and fostering those stewards.
International Mud Day started because a school in Australia and a school in Nepal wanted to create a day where kids from two different worlds could play in nature at the same time. The kids from Nepal could not afford to get a set of clothes dirty, so the Australian students raised funds and sent clothes so they could play together on the same day. That was ten years ago. Now, groups all over the world celebrate International Mud Day, including Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s summer camp and teen program participants.
This year, summer campers spent an entire week dedicated to mud! Playing mud games, creating mud crafts, making mud enrichment for animals and more. You name it, the campers successfully incorporated mud into it, every day.
The teen program spent several days creating mud activities and helping to prepare the famous CMZoo Mud Pit for Friday’s finale of mud week. Campers and teens celebrated Mud Day on Friday, June 28 this year and spent the entire day on the Zoo’s Nature Trail splashing and “bathing,” throwing, and wearing mud from three cascading mud pools.
Kids from four to seventeen years old participated in this celebration of nature play, with each age group interacting in the exact same ways: making face paint, plopping it onto a friend’s head, and trying to get their shirts and shorts as muddy as possible. Kids end up with mud in their ears, mouths and hair, and enjoy every minute of it.
If you are interested in learning more about International Mud Day or are looking for ways to celebrate it next year, please visit https://worldforumfoundation.org/workinggroups/nature/mud-day/.
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