Mud-ice Pies

Who says playing in a yard full of ice isn't fun and stimulating?  Yes, there is some risk involved, but nothing serious.  At least not serious enough to outweigh the fun (and the learning)! This last week, we have discovered that garden hoes make really good ice chippers, that it's fun to chop up ice (especially when there's a muddy puddle hiding beneath), that making mud pies in the ice is just as fun as making mud pies on warm days.

It has been wonderful to see these young kids maneuvering their way through this world of ice.  They have to walk differently.  Will their foot slip?  Will the ice beneath their foot break?  If so, what is beneath it?  Will their foot get wet? They have to be more careful than usual, and they also become aware of their surroundings in a different way.

There are new fun things to do too. Mud pies become mud-ice pies.  They can spend hours negotiating with each other about the best way to make a mud pie together.  Sometimes they talk and talk and talk about it, and other times they just do it.

Other than mud-ice pies, there is lots of other work to do.  One time this week, I found a crew of them sitting around a pile of logs, planning a strategy for getting the big log dislodged from the icy pile.  Their plan also involved how they would move it across a patch of ice after they have managed to dislodge it.

So. much. going. on!!

And go ahead, use your imagination. . . if you didn't know it was mud, that icy mud could potentially look like a delicious soup!