On Wednesday September 18th, Assiniboine Community College, paired with their Early Childhood Education program, will be putting on a Mud Day.

International Mud Day reaches its fifth year in 2013. It began in Nepal and Australia in 2008, and now happens all over the world. It is to promote outdoor and natural play. While it is important that children have toys to play with to help enhance their developmental skill-sets, our very own front yards and items from Mother Nature can be just as good of a teacher, and just as much fun!

Besides staff and students, children from different Early Learning Centres and home schools across Westman will be included. The combination of children and mud is definitely going to add up to a great time!

Usually International Mud Day is in the month of June. The students in the ECE program are not in class during that time. So, for our inaugural attempt, Westman will do this a bit differently and have it on the 18th.

Mud Day will benefit more than the children. The second-year students are using their class time in Teaching Strategies as a review for some of the skills they learned the year before. First-year students will be using this experience to work on their documentation and panels. They will also take pictures of the activities, and put together a display for all to see after the festivities are over. As a bonus, the planning of Mud Day is also helping to bridge the gap between the first- and second-year students in the Early Childhood program.

Staff and students are working hard to make sure that the environment is set up right, and that nothing is forgotten. There will be a water fountain outside to make sure all that are participating stay hydrated – as well as a bathroom, so we do not have to bring our mess indoors! Star FM, The Brandon Sun, and other media outlets are invited to come down and see what is going on, but because this is Brandon’s first year putting on Mud Day, unfortunately it is an invite-only event. This first year is going to be fun, but will also be a learning experience for all involved. Hopefully in the future we can open it up to the general public.

Stay tuned next week to hear about the mess!

Republished from The Quill print edition, Volume 104, Issue 3, September 17, 2013.