Playing in mud can make your kids smarter!

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 14:25:00 +0000

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!

Ultra Water Stomp!!

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 01:09:00 +0000

It rained heavily yesterday morning so I brought extra clothes for L and went to the soccer field. At first he did his usual thing, chasing the birds and checking out the flags. Eventually he stumbled into this big puddle of water, it was deep enough to submerge up to the top of his feet! He stood there for a few seconds, experiencing the new sensation. He moved his feet in the water, first slowly, then faster, until he found out that he could make a BIIIIIIG splash by stomping into it! Boy did he have a great time! I stood there and watch him stomp around in the puddle for over 15 minutes! Afterwards I had to change his clothes before we could go home!

Mud on Nick Wang

Playing in mud can make your kids smarter!

Ultra Water Stomp!!