In Nepal, Mud Day marks the beginning of the rice-growing season.
ICG’s International Mud Day Celebration
Date TBD, 2025
What is International Mud Day all about?
In 2012, the first International Mud Day Celebration in the Northeast of the US took place at the Hands-on-Nature Anarchy Zone in Ithaca Children’s Garden!
The festival is all about celebrating the human connection to nature, and breaking through some barriers around what it means to “get dirty.” International Mud Day generally sees between a few hundred and a thousand visitors each year. Whether curious to dip one’s toe, take a full on mud bath, or hang around the fringes nibbling mud cakes or mud popsicles, all are welcome. We’ve got everything you need for the perfect day of mud pies, mud pits, mud painting, mud sliding, and mudtastic adventure.
So grab your friends, sunscreen, and sense of adventure, and join us at Ithaca Children’s Garden for an epic day. Don’t forget to wear clothes that can get dirty and bring a change of clothes for after the event. See you there!
Overview
We are also pleased to offer Mud Day @ Home, for folks who are unable to attend or want to extend the fun after Mud Day passes. With Mud Day @ Home, you can look forward to celebrating nature through activities like Mud Painting and Muddy Science experiments. The virtual event is designed to be accessible with activities you can do in your own home using household materials.
We can’t wait to see how you celebrate International Mud Day. Share your photos and Mud Day stories with our Communications Team communications@ithacachildrensgarden.org.
*Caregivers are encouraged to let your child lead and resist the temptation to pressure your child into an experience they are not quite ready for. Our goal is for every visitor – especially the youngest – to engage (or not engage with the Mud in the way they want and are ready for. Watching others engage with mud can be a safe, fun, and meaningful experience for children.
Cultural Connections
What is International Mud Day all about?
International Mud Day has its origin at the World Forum for Early Childhood Care and Education in Belfast when two members of the Nature Action Collaborative for Children, Gillian McAuliffe from Western Australia and Bishnu Bhatta from Nepal, worked together to overcome the challenges their communities faced in playing with mud.
Many of the children from orphanages Bishnu Bhatta worked with in Nepal didn’t have enough clothes to be able to get them dirty. Gillian McAulife shared this story with a class of 7 and 8 year old students at the school she directed in Australia and the class raised money to provide extra clothes to the kids in Nepal. On the same day that year, the children in Nepal and Australia celebrated with a day of muddy play, instigating a global day of nature celebration!
In 2012, the first International Mud Day Celebration in the Northeast of the US took place at the Hands-on-Nature Anarchy Zone in Ithaca Children’s Garden!
In Nepal, Mud Day marks the beginning of the rice-growing season. It is a celebration of the nature that provides the ideal place to plant rice, the commodity that will later sustain the community. Apart from sustaining the Garden’s children all year in the Hands-On-Nature Anarchy Zone, Ithaca Children’s Garden’s mud becomes a home for frogs, a bath for the birds, and the nutrients and support for lots of different plants in an ecological community. In 2013, rice was planted at Ithaca Children’s Garden as a gesture of unity with Nepal – a grain that used to grow wild along the banks of the Great Lakes where it was gathered by the ancestors of the members of the Seneca Nation.
Our 2024 sponsors made it happen!
This event is supported in part by a grant from the Tompkins County Tourism Program.
This event is supported in part by generous community support from Ithaca Agway.
A Look Back at Past International Mud Day Festivals
2023 International Mud Day
Photos by Mike Smith (Manifesto Designs)
We would love to hear from you!
Create a Muddy Play Space
Muddy play can be a joyous sensory experience. At Ithaca Children’s Garden we’re fortunate to have the Hands-on-Nature Anarchy Zone where mud pits are a usual sight. Bring some of that muddy play home by creating a muddy play space in your yard, or even inside.
This setup is ideal if you don’t have much space. Find a shady spot, roughly 4’x4’. A little smaller will work as well. Look for items you can recycle for your muddy play space.
Make a Clean Mud Sensory Bin
Looking for all the fun of mud play without the mud? Give clean “mud” a try. It’s just as fun to make as it is to play with!
This activity is best designed for 2-6 year olds with some supervision, while 7+ can potentially do this independently.
Mix Up Some Mud Paint
Mud paint makes rich and earthy shades of color. It’s easy to make and a great way to celebrate mud. You can paint paper, large sheets of fabric, or your body.