Five Rivers MetroParks celebrate International Mud Day with kid’s event

Today is International Mud Day, and Five Rivers MetroParks has announced that it will celebrate the occasion with a special celebration for children and families at Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark, 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

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The event is to include a variety of activities in the park’s Children’s Discovery Garden. These include a mud mural, mud face painting, four mud pools, fishing in mud buckets, making a mud city, mud hula hooping and mud ball games.

“Playing in the mud is a wonderful way for kids to engage in sensory play, which is crucial for early learners,” Betty Hoevel, MetroParks education coordinator, said. “Studies have also shown that exposing children to nature, even things we find outdoors that we typically think of as 'dirty' creates happier and healthier kids.”

Participants should dress to get dirty, though there will be a clean-up area.