The Mud Pit

My eight year old son attends a beautiful, rustic camp during the summertime. The appeal of this camp is that there are countless things to do-- woodworking, stitchery, gardening, sports, swimming, clay, nature hikes, boating, yoga, and on and on. The camp houses a menagerie of animals such as ponies and goats, chickens and their babies, ducks and their ducklings, and even at turkey as tame as a cat that will sit on your lap to be pet. And, despite all of this wonder of nature and science around him, my son chooses to visit, day in and day out, the mud pit. The mud pit?!

Now, at first, the idea of hours and hours, day after day, spent in a mud pit took a bit getting used to on the part of his germaphobic mom. And, really, it is a mud pit. A man-made mud pit. In the center of about an acre of playground and animal corrals is a sandy-soil hill that the camp opens a hose on. The kids go crazy for this.

And, as I think more deeply about the mud pit, the experience that my son is having, and what he is truly learning, I am realizing this may be the most intense and fruitful learning experience in his young life.

First, may I state the obvious? This is not school. It is summer camp, and yet this learning is the deepest and most absorbed I have wittnessed. Let me paint a picture of the mud pit for you. About a dozen or more kids flock to the mud pit. At first they start to create rivers and dams. All with their hands, piling mud creating chanels so that the water flows (or doesn't flow) to the next person along the muddy river. And once all communities along the river are happy with the flow and rate, size and shape of the river cushioned by mud, it is time to build structures. Notice the picture above of the castle next to the river, and the proud team of contractors, architects, builders, and, most importantly, learners standing behind their project. And, think about the learning that has happened here: collaboration, physics, biology, mathematics, geometry, inter and intrapersonal skills, communication... to name a few.

But it goes beyond this river and mud castles. Kids begin to apply economics to it.


Above are mudballs for sale. Kids are elected by their peers (democracy) to sell mudballs. Well, at first, they don't sell mudballs, they give them away for free (don't many websites start this way?) That is until the mudballs become so popular they must begin to charge for them (supply and demand?). So, kids must pay for mudballs with rocks. The best rocks get you the best mudballs, get you the best foundation and materials for your mud castle. There is even a security guard to keep watch for poachers.

I must think back to an chapter by Roland Barth (National Education Service 2005)
that confirms my instinct: this mud pit is surely an example of what we think of as life-long learning.

• There is a love of learning-- my son and the other campers can barely pull themselves away from the pit for lunch or swim lessons.
• This learning experience is completely voluntary! As with all of the stations at camp, they may come and go as they please. They choose to return to the pit.
• The campers (learners) do everything they can to find the manpower, time, tools and resources to make their mud pit function productively
• They engage in this over time: day in day out my son comes home with mud-crusted feet
• They are self-reflective: hmmmm... I think we can create a better mud building tomorrow...
• And they can name and celebrate their success-- the mudball store, the mud castles, they are all the proud products of my son and his camper-friends

And, I then think about what the mudpit can teach me about my learning. And my greatest wish is:
May all our classrooms be mudpits.

Resource:

FROM BOOK BURNERS INTO LIFELONG LEARNERS

Roland S.Barth, Chapter 6 in, DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & DuFour, R. (Eds.) ON COMMON GROUND; THE POWER OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service, 2005.