Mud-pies and Dragonflies, O my!

So I saw a post on my kids activities page on Facebook, about an awesome outdoors class that was being offered in the area about different subjects, the owner does it on the side, of her "real" job with State Parks as the South District Interpretation and Education Specialist . I asked my son if he would like to attend a class about mud, that was the one being offered at the time, and of course he said yes, every boys dream! I looked  more into this class and found that with a low cost of 8 dollars you can drop off a child that is three and up(for under 3 you have to stay)  for two hours, they play, learn, do an craft project, and make a snack! Wow you cant beat that price! 

So we found their website Here is a link. and registered for the class and checked out what Brittany( the owner) qualifications where and was it really going to be worth my 8 dollars? Well all my questions where answered quickly because I also found that she had a Facebook page, facebook page, and answered pretty promptly with questions I asked her. So the date was set and we paid our money to attend, I planned on bringing Bean who is 6 and Bird who is 3. She asks that you preregister so that she has enough supplies for every child present.

We arrived about five minutes early and walked into her backyard, which is totally fenced in and kid friendly. She had stations already ready for the morning activities. Brittany greeted us and told us to have fun playing on the playground equipment she has, until everyone arrived but please don't get in the mud yet, because we have fun activities that need to explained. I then learned Brittany was a mother herself. She has a sweet two year old who loves the outdoors too! 

Once everyone arrived we sat on wood stools in a circle time area, were she explained how mud is made, what animals love mud, how mud helps animals and explained what we would do in each center area of the back yard. 

Of course then the kids were allowed to dig in, she had a mud throwing station, a mud table, mud pool, a water pool to rinse a bit, dishes to make mud pies, and of course just mud to use your imagination with. 

The kids were able to play as long as a they liked in the mud and at the stations, the yard was pretty much free rein. Brittany was great she dug in with the children and got just as muddy, she was helping make mud-pies, showing them how to make mud balls to throw,and how to mix the mud with our feet. Once the kids started slowing down with these activities she presented the craft, which was painting with mud, she had cardboard, paintbrushes, and color sheets with the animals we learned about. The mud actually were divided into colors, that the kids could paint with ( who would have though you could make mud colors?). The kids had fun making the cardboard colorful, and once again Brittany dug right in to show and help the kids with painting. 

Finally the sprinkler was hooked up and a baby pool filled up with fresh water so the kids could rinse a bit of it off, and change into clean clothes so the end of the program could be had. The kids enjoyed this part too, they got wet in the pool, and ran through the sprinkler and had a ball getting clean. I then helped my littles to dry off and change and we headed back to the circle-time, where we were going to make mud-pie to eat! We used chocolate pudding, oreos, and gummy worms to make mud. She allows for you in registration to tell if your child has restrictions on food, so she can accommodate your child beforehand. While the kids ate, she read a few stories about mud to conclude the program. Afterwards the kids wanted to check her bunny out that is in the backyard as well, so the allowed them to pet and feed "Luna" a snack before we left. 

The kids gave this a 10 on wanting to do this again, she is going to offer different programs, she is planning on having a bunny program, and others in the coming months. Brittany can travel to you if you have a childcare program, birthday party, girls scouts, boy scouts, and any other group or you can come to her. She charges per person for the supplies. She also does private classes that you can schedule with her in her back yard, you just need a minimum of 4 children to attend, and the learning subject/theme you can pick! 

We will be attending this place again, and I plan on having her come to my preschool class sometime in the fall! She has a great personality and is great in teaching kids of all ages! Have fun and try it out dont forget the bug spray and the sunscreen! (also not all programs are this messy lol)