Top 20 things to do in a muddy puddle
By Muddy Teacher Jess Habgood
- JUMP JUMP JUMP!
Go jumping crazy in those muddy puddles! Unleash your inner gymnast and … star jump, hop, 360 turn, 180 turn, banana, tuck, stag, pike or straddle!
- Who can do the biggest splash?
Grab your friends or family and have a jumping competition. Count to 3 and see who can make the largest SPLASH!
- Make a puddle soup
Collect some nature treasures, pots, pans, bowls and spoons and create a puddle soup.
- Stepping Stones
Find some logs or stones and create a path through the puddle so you can get across without touching the water.
- Evaporation experiment
Once the sun comes out after a rainy day, get outside and use some chalk to draw around a puddle. Then, over the next few hours keep going back and draw back around it to see how it has changed size and how much water has evaporated.
- Floating/sinking experiment
Find a deep puddle and see what can float or sink. Try out pinecones, leaves, sticks and stones.
- Create and sail a recycling boat
Reusing plastic cartons, egg boxes and yogurt pots make your own boat to sail across the puddles.
- Measure the depth
Grab a ruler and measure how deep the puddle is. Make predictions about which is the deepest, then test it out. Can you make an accurate estimation before you measure it?
- Go Dancing
Go singing and dancing in the rain. Splash, skip and spin in those muddy puddles!
- Build a bridge
Using only natural resources can you build a mini bridge over the top of the puddle?
- Drive your toys through it
Make a splash by driving your toy trucks, cars and speedboats through the middle of the muddy puddle. How about having a race car race through puddles?
- Ride your bike through
There is nothing as satisfying as speeding through a puddle with waves of water spraying either sides of your wheels! Jump on your bikes or scooter and make waves! Do this one with caution as the water can make you skid.
- Animal stomp
One person calls out an animal name and the rest of you have to act like it as you move through the puddles. Can you stomp like an elephant or leap like a gazelle?
- Make a whirlpool
Find yourself your perfect ‘mixing stick’ then swirl and mix your puddle to create a Whirlpool.
- Floating pictures
Find 4 sticks to create a frame, place them in your puddle, then find some more natural treasures to create a floating picture inside.
- Leaf boats
Using only leaves and twigs make mini boats to sail across the puddle.
- Observe it
Get up close to your puddle and see what you can find. Are there minibeasts hidden in the water?
- Make a Muddy rainbow
Using some chalks, crush them up and use the perfect mixing stick in the water and make colourful rainbow puddles.
- Puddle tag
The only rule of puddle tag is that you can only move by jumping between puddles. Playing tag whilst jumping in puddles is a lot more fun than normal tag!
- Puddle race
Be prepared to get VERY wet. Choose a path or play area which has lots of puddles in a row and see who can jump from one side to the other first.
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