Clifford . Parents & Teachers . Activities . Be Truthful . Fun with Clean Mud

Activity: Fun with Clean Mud

Age Range: 4-7
Clifford's Big Idea to Grow On: Be Truthful
Skills:
•	Language and Literacy Skills
•	Social and Emotional Skills
•	Science and Discovery Skills
Related Books:
•	Consider Love by Sandra Boynton (Simon & Schuster Children's)
•	The Useful Moose: A Truthful, Moose-Full Tale by Fiona Robinson
•	Clifford, We Love You by Norman Bridwell (Scholastic)

Help your child express true feelings for someone special by making a heart out of a unique homemade "clean" mud mixture.

Materials:
Recipe for Clean Mud:

6 rolls of white toilet paper
2 small bars of soap
1 1/2 cups of Borax
potato peeler or cheese grater to grate bar soap
water (as needed)
large plastic tub with lid

Directions:
Encourage your child to share his/her true feelings with someone special by making them a unique "clean" mud heart. Unroll toilet paper into large plastic tub. Cover tissue with water. Place lid on tub and let tissue soak overnight. Pour off excess water from tissue. Add grated soap and Borax and gently mix together. The "clean" mud is ready to mold and shape and can be painted after it dries. Place moist shaped mud on a cookie sheet or solid surface to dry. Be sure to wash hands after handling "clean" mud. And although the mud mixture is mild, it's always a good idea to keep these kind of solutions away from eyes or sensitive skin areas.

Talk about It: Ask your child to name special people at home, school, daycare, and around the neighborhood. Talk about why these people are special and what they have done to share themselves in such a kind way with your child.

Take it Further: Add food coloring to the "clean" mud recipe above to make small colored letters, numbers, or words for the refrigerator. When mud shapes dry, attach small magnets and place on refrigerator or metal surface for some homemade and extra creative lettering fun.

With a Group: Make a "familiar" mud figure! Print out a picture of Clifford for each child using the printables available on this Web site. Prepare the "clean" mud recipe above. Have children use their printable as an outline for filling in a Clifford picture with the "clean" mud. Lay pictures on a flat surface to dry. Trim off any extra paper around the picture's edge and paint if desired. Be sure to have children sign and date their mud Clifford figure before taking home. Option: Add glitter to mud mixture while mixing or anytime before mud dries.