Smelly, Buggy Mud Bath

I've had this idea up my sleeve for a while now, after seeing a recipe for Mud Playdough made with cocoa.  Today I needed a way to contain entertain my two youngest for a little while.  With International Mud Day coming up on June 29, I thought the timing was right to try out my idea for a mud bath.

First step, I scattered plastic bugs on the bottom of the tub.  These were dollar store finds.

Next, I sprinkled the cocoa powder on top, covering the creatures as best as I could.

I used an 8 ounce container of cocoa powder and I think it was enough.  We have a garden style tub, to give some perspective.  Use the cheap cocoa powder, not the good stuff.

At this point I invited the girls to come and see.  The two older girls definitely wanted to check it out, but since this was the middle of the day, they just watched for a bit while 3YO Purple and 1YO Blue got into it.

And those two did get into it.

They were a tad hesitant at first.  I mean, sometimes the bath looks like this AFTER the water is drained.  But to start with?  This was different.  But it SMELLED SO GOOD.  Which led to the learning opportunity: cocoa powder does not taste sweet like chocolate.  

After they had a chance to play in the "dirt" for a bit, we decided to add water.  4YO Pink correctly stated that dirt + water = mud.

I have to say, cocoa powder makes pretty convincing mud.

This is about the point where Purple and Blue discover stomping and splashing.  And when I think, maybe this would be even better OUTSIDE in the kiddie pool.

We began adding more water and decided to try bubble bath, too.  

Bubbles were a flop.  But it was amazing how opaque that water continued to be.  I'm sure you could use less cocoa powder to achieve the same effect.

Envisioning my white bathroom soon becoming covered with brown splatters that would appear questionable in nature, I decided it was time to drain the brown water and do a quick rinse of tub and bods.

Clean up was way easy.  Especially if you have a shower hose nearby.

Update: 3YO Purple loved this so much, she did her own, unauthorized take on it.  Teehee!

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