I Dig Dirt!

My boys at this year’s Touch a Truck fundraiser in Scituate

My kids LOVE dirt.  They really love it.  We have a huge dirt pile in our yard (which I don’t love) and they never get bored digging in it.  John loves to find worms and make them homes.  When he was younger, he used to take all his Bob the Builder toys into the yard and pretend it was a construction site.

John (2), digging.

Conor is currently obsessed with diggers.  One of his favorite words is dig-ga!  He gets so excited when he sees one digging up the roads in Scituate.  He will keep repeating “dig-ga!, Mama, dig-ga!, Dig-ga!”  Until I recognize the digger.

Lofty resting after much work in the yard.

I’m not really sure what the obsession is with dirt, but both my kids love it. They love making mud pies or pretending to be paleontologists in search of long lost dinosaur bones.  Sometimes I wish I loved dirt as much as they did!  I don’t know it may be good stress relief to go dig holes in the backyard!  I thought bringing the mud pies inside might be fun for us all.  Did you ever make mud pies with pudding and gummy worms when you were little?  As the weather gets cooler, I think this will be a fun activity for the whole family.

Very messy, indeed.  Conor’s building site.

Here is the dirt on how to make an edible mud pie.  EHow has an easy step by step which I’ve copied below:

EHow’s How to Make a Mud Pie
Things You’ll Need

Bowl
Whisk
2 cups milk
Instant chocolate pudding
Gallon plastic bag
Chocolate sandwich cookies
Pie pan
Gummy worms
Whipped cream
Black sprinkles

Whisk together the milk and instant pudding in a bowl until the pudding granules have dissolved. Allow the pudding to set according to the manufacturer’s directions — usually for at least five minutes in a refrigerator.

Crush 10 to 12 chocolate sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, in a gallon plastic bag. Stop when the cookie pieces are still in small chunks. The pieces do not have to be uniform in size. Pour the cookie pieces into a pie pan and press down lightly.

Spoon half of the chocolate pudding over the cookie pieces. Add several gummy worms, which represent worms burrowing under the dirt.

Spoon the remaining pudding mix into the pie pan. Add more gummy worms to the top.

Dot the mud pie with whipped cream piles.

Dribble black sprinkles over the whipped cream pile to represent ants.

Eat the pie immediately, or keep it chilled to eat later. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Tips & Warnings
Allow kids to use their imagination when making the mud pie. Ask them what other candy or confectionery item could represent animals that live in the dirt, for instance.

Make individual mud pies by using small, clear cups instead of a pie pan. Follow the steps above, but split the ingredients between the cups.