Marvelous Mud Pies

[30 Minutes]

Who doesn’t like making mud pies? After the snow melts, what’s left behind is mud. Thick, squishy, gushy, wiggly mud. Even after a heavy summer rainstorm, you’ll see mud where the puddles were. Do you ever see plants growing in this mud? Not usually. Plants like richer soil than what is found at the bottom of mud puddles. To find out the difference between mud and soil, make some mud pies.

You'll need:

• 3 disposable aluminum pie pans • shovel to dig soil or bag of potting soil • pencil • paper • transparent tape • nail (ADULT SUPERVISION) • popcorn kernels • water • large plate

What to do:

1. If possible, print out these directions. Read them through with your child before you begin.
2. With your child, gather everything you’ll need.
3. Invite your child to label one pan “topsoil,” one pan “subsoil” and the third pan “topsoil with drainage holes.”
4. Together, use the nail and punch about 20 to 30 holes in the bottom of the pan labeled, “topsoil with drainage holes.”
5. With your child, pick a spot in your backyard or the park where you’d like to dig a hole. Take turns digging a hole about 18 inches deep. As you’re digging, fill the “topsoil” pan and the “topsoil with drainage holes” pan with soil from near the top of the hole. Be sure and get below the grass and try not to get any grass roots in this soil. Fill the “subsoil” pan with soil from near the bottom of the hole.
6. If you do not have any soil to dig up, you can use potting soil and you’ll only need the two “topsoil” pans.
7. Let your child sprinkle one to two tablespoons of unpopped popcorn kernels on each mud pie. Mix the kernels into the soil. Be sure and put a plate under the mud pie in the “topsoil with drainage holes" pan.
8. Encourage your child to water each mud pie thoroughly.
9. Together, place the mud pies in a sunny place. Water them often. Do not over water the one with drainage holes.

How to use:

Wait about a week to see what grows. Record which mud pie shows green first, which one second, and which one third.

Let's Talk: Ideas to Explore Together.

• Which mud pie sprouts first?
• Does the popcorn grow better in topsoil, topsoil with drainage holes, or subsoil?
• What is different about what the plants get in the mud pie with drainage holes that the plants in the other two mud pies don’t get?

Useful information:

Soil is made of many different components. A good portion of soil is rock that has broken into tiny, tiny pieces over thousands of years. Soil also needs water, oxygen, the material from dead plants and animals, and bacteria to help decompose the plant and animal materials. Animals that live underground help keep the soil loose so that water can enter the ground and reach the roots of the plants. The next time you’re making mud pies, remember how long it took to make the soil.