Heads up: This post is 14 years old. My thinking may have evolved since then — read it with that in mind.
I grew up in Hong Kong in the 70’s & 80’s, back then, almost all playgrounds were covered in concrete! My most “precious” memory of it was I tripped while running up some metal bars, fell, and my new mechanical pencil, which I kept in my pants pocket ‘coz I loved that thing soon much, poked into my thigh and hurt like hell!! (I was seriously worried about dying from lead poisoning afterwards, I was may be 6 years old!) Anyways, nowadays they use soft rubber mats instead, which to me means kids are wussy these days! Either way, I think kids would like to play more on a lawn or on tree bark (used in playgrounds in Seattle area) than on concrete or rubber mats, but how about mud and dirt? For sure the parents won’t be liking the aftermath - mud soiled clothes! So when I was living in Japan, I was really surprised to learn that kindergartens in super clean Japan actually have a “Doronkoasobi”, literally “mud play” activity for little kids to play in the mud!
Reggio Emilia Approach is all about letting the children experience and construct their own image of the world. Playing in wet mud on a hot summer day is a pleasant sensory explosion! The feeling of cool, wet mud between your fingers, between your toes, on your face, your body, and the smell of earth… kids love it, but parents may be against it due to the hassle of cleaning afterwards. Well, for those of you who are against your kids playing in dirt, consider that there’s scientific proof that playing in mud can actually make them smarter!!
Mycobacterium vaccae is a natural soil bacterium which people likely ingest or breath in when they spend time in nature. Previous research on M. Vaccae showed that it stimulated growth of some neurons in the brain that resulted in increased levels of serotonin and decreased anxiety. Serotonin plays a role in improving learning. - source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100524143416.htm
Arnold “Shuwa-chan” playing in mud to relief stress while the Predator tries the skin him
I doubt the person who mandated Doronkoasobi in kindergartens across Japan knew about these scientific facts, but I can imagine he made that intuitive choice based on his own childhood experience - probably grew up in poor post-war Japan and remembered whenever he played in the mud, he felt calm and relaxed afterwards. His body had told him long ago what scientists had recently proven! Concrete and rubber are logical decisions made by adults too lazy to deal w/ kids. I applaud the intuition of Japan to keep sand and mud in the playgrounds!