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Apple Playschools' Mud Day Challenge: Tracking the Mud Monster

Thu June 1 - Thu June 29 Ann Arbor, MI 48103 US

Challenges

$25 Registers an Individual or an entire Family!

Virtual Mud Day Challenge with free mud day tickets

For humans of all ages. Collect Muddy Minutes all month long in this Virtual Challenge. Registration includes up to 5 tickets for your household to in person Mud Day Mayhem event.

Mud Day Mayhem In person Event Only!

06/24 10:00AM EDT - 12:00PM EDT For children and their families. A supervising adult must be registered and present with their registered children.
Suggested donation of $10

Outdoor Yoga

06/25 10:00AM EDT - 11:00AM EDT Adults are welcome to join us for morning outdoor Yoga with Carter the teacher and owner of Yoga with Carter. Spaces are limited. 

Description

Apple Playschools invites you to TAKE THE MUD DAY CHALLENGE and track the mythical Mud Monster!

Run, Hike, Garden, Play! This year we are celebrating International Mud Day with a virtual challenge you can do anywhere. Wondering what the mythical Mud Monster looks like? What do they like to eat? How do they spend their time? Complete a series of challenges and activities to unravel clues about the mythical Mud Monster. Each minute you play outdoors you can track as a “Muddy Minutes.” Collect at least 200 Muddy Minutes June 1st-29th. Follow each week's muddy adventure challenge (or choose your own, because who doesn't like choices?) and help us reach our goal of raising $20,000, logging 20,000 Muddy Minutes and tracking the mythical Mud Monster! Logging Muddy Minutes between June 1st and June 29th will earn you clues and virtual badges about the characteristics and behavior of the Mud Monster. Go for a Trail Run, take a Nature Hike,  visit your local farmers market, dig in your garden, dive into a mud pit, make a mud pie or create a muddy work of art.   One price registers you or your whole family and includes 5 tickets to our in person Mud Day Mayhem event. Don't forget to invite friends and family to join in the fun and donate to Apple Playschools' Scholarship Fund! 

Mud Day Mayhem In-Person Event!

We are also celebrating International Mud Day in person this year at Mud Day Mayhem! Sign up to join us June 24th from 10am-12pm at Leslie Science & Nature Center where you and your family can dive into the wonders of mud with hands-on activities in the nature play area and along the trail. Make mud pies, paintings and sculptures, try out your skills at mud throwing, dip your feet or your whole body into the giant mud zone and hit the trails for this year's Mud Monster quest. 

There are two ways to purchase tickets for this event.

1. Click on the Sign up button under the Mud Day Mayhem Event Only.$5/person 

2. Sign up for the Virtual Challenge and get 5 tickets free. (additional tickets can be purchased as adds on during your registration) Attending the event helps you  collect 120 minutes worth of Muddy Minutes at Mud Day Mayhem with nature hikes and muddy activities.

How to Participate in the Mud Day Challenge!

  1. Press the Sign Up Button to Register!
  2. During Registration: Check out our add-ons: Register for additional Mud Day Mayhem (in person muddy event) or Buy a t-shirt. 
  3. Once you are registered you can invite others to join using your special URL in your confirmation email. 
  4. DONATE TO OUR SCHOLARSHIP FUND! We try to keep participation pricing low so that it is accessible to anyone who wants to join. Please consider donating to our scholarship fund to help make muddy play more accessible to all families and keep this amazing event going. 
  5. Set up your GOALS. Starting June 1st you can start tracking your results and set up your goals. Click on the Results tab and then Submit Virtual Results to get started. 
  6. Download your passport below and have fun hiking, running, gardening and playing! Submit your photos by clicking on the photos tab. 
  7. Don't forget to spread the word about the event for people to join or donate!

Your Mud Day Challenges!

Complete the challenges below. Then log your muddy minutes on the RESULTS page and add your guesses and discoveries in the comments section. You will then receive an email with a clue about the appearance and behaviors of our Mud Monster friend. 

Challenge 1: What does the Mud Monster look like? Log at least 1 muddy minute to get your first glimpse of the Mud Monster. You can go for a hike in the woods, take a trail run, dig in the dirt, plant a flower or vegetable, mix dirt and water in a bowl to a nice muddy consistency,  stand barefoot on the soil or anything you choose to connect with the earth. Enter your muddy minutes, choose challenge 1 under activity and add what you did in the comment section. 

 Challenge 2: How does the Mud Monster move? Does she glide, hop, fly, walk, gallop? Take a nature walk or trail run in the woods or in your community. Then enter your muddy minutes and choose Challenge 2 for the activity type to find out how our Mud Monsters move. 

Challenge 3: What does the Mud Monster like to eat? Visit a local farm, farmers market, produce stand, or work in your garden. While you are there think about what a mud monster's favorite food would be. Then enter your muddy minutes on the RESULTS tab, choose Challenge 3 for the activity type and add your guess in the comment section. 

Challenge 4: How does the Mud Monster relax? We will give you a hint! This Mud Monster loves to read. Choose a mud themed or garden themed book and read it somewhere outdoors. Enter your muddy minutes on the Results Tab and Choose Challenge 4 to learn the Mud Monster's favorite book. Add what book you read in the comment section. The Mud Monster loves book suggestions. 

Challenge 5: What are the Mud Monsters favorite hobbies? The mud monster loves to play in the mud. If you are local, join us at the Mud Day Mayhem event in Ann Arbor on June 24th and continue to track the mud monster through a park wide scavenger hunt and activity extravaganza. If you are not try out some of the Mud Monsters hobbies and track your Muddy minutes. You can mix some dirt and water to make Mud Paint, create a clay sculpture, visit a museum with clay creations old and new, play in a bucket of mud or a mud puddle or a mud pool... Hopefully you are close to your 200 minutes goal by now. Enter your minutes and activities under and choose challenge 5 for the Activity. 

Bonus Minutes: Loved any of the challenges above... keep doing what you love and explore on your own. The goal is at least 200 muddy minutes so enter as many activities you would like. Go for a walk in the woods every day or watch those tomatoes grow big and tall. You decide how you collect your remaining minutes. For every 50 minutes you collect, you will recieve a new clue. 

 

Give the gift of Muddy and Messy Play - Donate to the Scholarship Fund!

"I really want my kid to play in the mud and chew on sticks, but watching him do it gives me hives. I'm so glad he can come to Apple Playschools and have a place to do this." - Apple Playschools Parent

Do you want to nurture muddy and messy play but aren't sure exactly how to do it? Mud Day is the place for you and your family.  

Each year we celebrate International Mud Day with the entire community by rolling in mud, painting with mud, building with mud and generally enjoying everything that mud has to offer. This year get down and dirty with us while also supporting our scholarship program to give the gift of muddy and messy play to more children in our community.   

Help us reach our $20,000 fundraising goal! Donate to the Apple Playschools Scholarship Fund to give the gift of muddy, messy play and to support our educators! 

Muddy Rewards!

Playing in the mud helps boost your immune system and elevates mood! We know that is reward enough but we have a few others up our sleeves. 

1. Participation Patch:  First 10 families to register will receive 1 one "I ♥ Mud Day" participation patch! If you would like to buy additional patches, you can do so as an add-on. 

2. Virtual Milestone badges: Need some extra encouragement or fun? As you play, you will receive virtual milestone badges.

3. Muddy Goal Getter: Collect 200 Muddy Minutes and receive a waterproof "Mud Monster" decal sticker to decorate your water bottle or favorite place you like to keep stickers. 

4. Refer a Friend Rewards: Invite your friends to join the challenge and receive additional discounts and prizes. See the section below on how to Refer A Friend.

 

ORDER YOUR MUD DAY T-SHIRT!

Your Mud Day experience is not complete without a Mud Day T-shirt. 

Need a new shirt to celebrate this challenge? Its a great way to kick off your Mud Day celebration!  If your muddy play leads to a stained shirt, you can consider it a Mud Day Tie-Dye and add more minutes to your tracker! You can order your shirts through the Sign up process! This year's design is coming soon... shhhh! its a surprise! It will feature images of the Mud Monster! There are still I love Mud day shirts available from last year. Order one today!

Take a selfie playing, running, hiking, or gardening in your Mud Day T-shirt and post it to our Mud Day Challenge Photo Album!

Refer a Friend!

Multiply your muddy play by inviting your friends to join in the fun!

  • Sign up for Apple Playschools Mud Day Challenge
  • Once your registration is complete, you will receive a unique referral link to share with your friends, family or post on social media
  • Get 5 friends to sign up using your unique referral link and you will automatically receive a refund of $5. 
  • Get 10 friends receive a full refund of your Virtual Challenge registration fee
  • Get 20 friends to to sign up using your unique referral link and you will receive an exclusive "I love Mud Day" Tote bag. 
  • Keep sharing and promoting your link. 

 

About Apple Playschools

At Apple Playschools, we embody inclusion, innovation, and environmental stewardship in entrepreneurship AND education in order to make a more equitable world. We facilitate innovative, play-based early childhood education promoting interpersonal relationships, equity and inclusion, and nature exploration. We envision a world where all people are respected as capable, competent and empowered citizens of the planet. In short, we transform our community through work and play.

Our organization is distinct from other early childhood programs because of our deep belief that adults in our organization deserve the same opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive as the students they teach. Our management practices support a feminist work environment driven by coaching and an anti-bias lens, and we carry the principles of our social justice branches through all levels of our work, supporting collaboration, innovation, diversity, and inclusion.

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