Muddy Math

Playing in the mud is an enjoyable experience that children love to do! Squishing dirt in your fingers, making mud stew and hunting for tracks are all favourite activities that also integrate rich learning. Heading outside to play on a mucky day uses children's excitement and enthusiasm for sensory experiences to inspire rich mathematical and scientific inquiries about what they are seeing and experiencing.

In this book readers explore the math that exists in mud play using the 'see, think, and wonder' thinking routine. Colourful photos and an easy to access text invite both children and adults to explore the fun and excitement of playing with messy materials outdoors. This book can spark mathematical conversations with children, and be used as a guide for discovering the rich math that exists in nature-based activities. Photos can also be used without text to engage children in math talks as they observe and discuss what they see on each page.

Educators will find this book to be an effective resource to inspire math talks within the classroom or before heading outside to play. Often educators are asked to justify messy outdoor play in the dirt. Exploring Muddy Math: See, Think and Wonder before heading outside will help empower children to notice and name the learning they are experiencing while having fun in nature. Families can use this book as a tool for helping inspire math thinking and conversation with children during quality reading time together or before heading outside to play.