14 Dirt & Mud Activities for Kids

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Ivory. The opinions and text are all mine.

There are so many health benefits to kids going outside and playing in the mud, and there's no need to worry when you can clean up gently after with Ivory Original Bar Soap. Encourage your kids to have fun and get muddy with these 14 mud activities for kids, then wash up with the best soap!

Dirt and Mud Activities for Kids (And the Best Bath Soap to Wash Up!)

We all want what's best for kids. But somewhere along the way "what's best" has gotten lost in "what's expected." "What's expected" is that we have beautiful, perfectly furnished, meticulously scrubbed, Pinterest-worthy homes with lovely, perfectly behaved, immaculately dressed children. But these expectations doesn't really mean that that's "what's best." In fact, studies are showing the opposite.

We're worried about our kids getting dirty and sick and our house getting dirty, so we keep our kids inside. Unfortunately, our society’s emphasis on cleanliness (not to mention our indoor-focused, sedentary lifestyle) has some families fearing dirt when we really need to be embracing it!

Recent reports from the National Wildlife Federation have shown that playing in the dirt improves children's immune systems, improves their mood, reduces their stress and anxiety, and gets kids outside more (which has its own slew of benefits, such as ensuring adequate vitamin D levels, decreasing the risk of being overweight or obese, increasing creativity levels, improving quality of sleep, and reducing screen time!).

Which is why I'm so excited to partner with Ivory Soap to talk about getting kids outside and dirty, knowing we have a pure, clean way to wash up when they're done.

With Ivory soap, you don't need to feel worried about sending your kids outside to get muddy and dirty. Ivory has been making pure clean soaps since 1879, and has been trusted by families for generations. Because they care for your family as much you do, Ivory products are free of dyes, heavy perfumes, and parabens, and made in the U.S.A. The Ivory Original Bar Soap is so pure, it floats!

For a quick hand and face wipe down, use the Ivory Original Bar Soap, which is doctor recommended as a facial cleanser. If your kids had a really fun day and need a full-on bath or shower, you can use Ivory Aloe Body Wash with a rich, refreshing lather, leaving your kids' skin moisturized, smooth, and as soft as when they were babies. Ivory also helps soothe bug bites, which is perfect after a day outside in the mud!

Now that you know it's okay for your kids to be dirty because you can give them a gentle and pure clean, here are 14 dirt and mud activities for kids.

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14 Dirt and Mud Activities for Kids

1. Build a Mud Castle - Break out the buckets and shovels to build a mud castle! Make the mud extra sticky by adding a little extra water, if you need to, and start building, just like you would a sand castle.

2. Jump in Mud Puddles - You don't even need to get too fancy or creative to get muddy. Just throw on everyone's rain boots and jump into the nearest mud puddle for a muddy good time.

3. Dig for Worms - My boys love digging for worms just for the fun of it. Sometimes they'll see who can find the biggest one. And we'll also send the kids outside to dig for worm before we go on a family fishing trip. Free bait, muddy kids, and family time make happy hearts.

4. Bake Mud Pies - Mud pies are a classic way to get muddy! Didn't you use to make them. I did, and then I used to try to convince my little sisters to eat them (I was such a great big sister, wasn't I? Don't worry. I've made up for it by baking them their favorite REAL pies these days!). Make a mud pie in a bucket, on a plate, or grab some cheap, disposable pie plates from the dollar store. Be sure to mix in some fillings, like grass, leaves, sticks, or berries!

5. Paint a Mud Picture - My kids have been known to paint many a mud picture. On our house, on our car, on each other,..... While you may want to discourage the house-painting, you can still mud paint on the sidewalk or driveway where it will wash right off in the rain, or even on an easel that you can hose right off.

6. Build with Mud Bricks - Make your own mud bricks for building with ice cube trays simply spread a mud mixture (about 1 cup dry dirt an ⅔ cup water, mixed together well) into an ice cube tray. Pack the mud in so that it will hold shape. You can either carefully dump it over right away to have soft bricks or you can wait a little bit for the mud to dry and harden. Then just get to building! You can use mud as mortar too!

7. Mix Up Some Mud Soup - When I was little, we used to have this old tin wash basin in the back yard. I don't really know what it was for, but I used to make mud soup in it (and yes, I tried to make my sisters eat that too.... I just wanted someone to appreciate my delicious mud creations, okay?!). So a few weeks ago when I noticed my kids filling their new buckets from Easter with grass, sticks, dirt, rocks, and water, I knew exactly what they were doing! Make your own mud soup with a bucket, shovel, dirt, water, and whatever else you can find in the backyard! (And in case you were wondering, my kids did NOT try to feed each other the mud soup. I guess they take after their father.)

8. Put Mud in the Sandbox - Kids throw all of the sand out of the sandbox already this year? Fill it with mud instead! A mud-box is the perfect place to contain digging and mud play, and a great place to build ramps for dump trucks and diggers, too!

9. Play Paleontologist - My oldest son is dead-set on being a paleontologist when he grows up, so there's lots and lots of digging for fossils in our backyard. But even though the other two have their hearts set on other dreams, they still love helping out with the digging. They even found a real fossil of a leaf once! Pretty cool! You can also bury toy dinosaurs in the backyard, and have the kids dig them up like a scavenger hunt.

10. Create Mud Dough - If your kids love play dough, then they'll definitely love mud-dough. Just a few simple ingredients like dirt, water, vegetable oil, and cornstarch, and you can make your own mud-dough to play with. Check out this tutorial for directions!

11. Make Mud Prints - Now, this is something I normally discourage, but if we make sure the mud prints stay outside, everyone will be happy. So have your kids take off their shoes and make mud prints with their hands and feet on a piece of poster board or an old cardboard box. Get the family dog to join in, or use pretend animal figurines to make mud prints, too.

12. Build a Tower with Mud Mortar - Gather rocks, old landscaping bricks, leaves, or anything else you can find and use wet mud as mortar to build a tall tower and keep it stuck together. Make it a competition by seeing who can make the tallest tower!

13. Play Mud Ball - Another idea that I would normally discourage, but again if you make sure the kids are in the proper environment, mud ball is really fun. Draw a target area on the sidewalk or driveway. Have the kids fill up buckets with mud (or dirt, and then you can just wet it with the hose.). Then form mud balls with their hands and throw it at the target. You can even write numbers on the target for points. Whoever gets the most points wins!

14. Plant a Garden - Planting a garden is probably the easiest way to get your kids down in the dirt. When you're out pulling weeds, fixing the landscaping, tending to the vegetables, or planting your annuals, get the kids involved! Let them help you, or hey, even do most of the work! My kids love helping every year!

Finish Your Day with a Gentle Clean from the Best Soap

Don't be afraid to make muddy memories with your kids! After your kids are done getting dirty for the day, bring them inside (or maybe hose them off a little outside first....), and give them a pure and gentle clean with Ivory Soap.