Storytime Craft: Muddy Pigs

Muddy pigs?!!??!!! 

But...

Aren't they MESSY?

Why, yes. 

Yes, they are! 

And that is one reason toddlers and preschoolers will love this craft!

This is a simple craft that is as fun to play with as it is to make. :o) It can be a messy process or it can be a relatively clean process (despite the mention of mud) depending on your choice of art supplies.

For my pigs, I chose the same pig design that I used in my Big Red Barn Spinning Wheel project:

And also in the Mrs. Wishy Washy storytelling project:

If you would like to use the same pig, just pop me an email at storytimeabcs(at)gmail(dot)com and I will email you the template. Or you can choose any pig shape that you and your child like. There are plenty of coloring pages to choose from when you do a Google search.

First, cut your pig out of pig construction paper and then add any details you want with crayons, markers, etc.

I wanted my pigs to be reversible so I made mirror images of them and glued them together before going to the muddy step.

And here it is! 

The step you have been waiting for! 

Let's add the MUD! 

YAY!

Lay your pig onto newspaper or a plastic tablecloth for easy clean-up later. ;o)

Here comes the mess!

Let your little one paint some "mud" onto the pig(s) with:

***Brown paint using their fingers 

VERY MESSY!

**Brown paint using a sponge

Not quite so MESSY!

*Brown markers

Hardly any mess at all!

Brown crayons

No mess at all!

Why did you even bother to get out the newspaper? 

LOL!

I chose to use the second messiest method because I always make a mess anyway so why not choose one of the messy methods, right? :o) 

I took a kitchen sponge and cut out a small piece:

Then I dipped the sponge in the brown paint and dabbed it on the plate to remove any excess paint before sponging it onto the pig shape(s). 

I also cut a mud puddle shape out of brown construction paper and sponged brown paint onto it. 

This picture is from the making of the Mrs Wishy Washy set but it shows the mud puddle

.

Be careful because sponging the "mud" is very addicting! 

You might need to have extra scrap paper or newspaper around so that your little one(s) can have fun sponging for awhile. You never know, you just might want to join in, too! LOL!

My final product was 5 reversible pigs ~ clean on one side and muddy on the other ~ and a nice big mud puddle for them to "jump" and "roll" in!

***Special Note: If you want to make reversible pigs with your child(ren), do not glue the mirror images together until the mud is painted on and has had time to dry ~ otherwise, both sides of your reversible pigs might have mud on them. ;o) I personally learned that from my experiences with a group of lively 3 year olds! Ha ha!

Now that you have a muddy pig ~ or two ~ or five. Why not enjoy a piggy book or two? Here are a few suggestions books and a song to share:

The Piggy in the Puddle

written by Charlotte Pomerantz

“Mud is squishy, mud is squashy,
mud is oh so squishy-squashy.
What you need is lots of soap.”
But the piggy answered,
“Squishy-squashy, squishy-squashy-NOPE!”

Hogwash

written by Karma Wilson

A muddy pig book by one of my favorite children's authors.

We're in a Book!

written by Mo Willems

No mud but there is lots of fun in this series of books!

The following song is a piggy version of "Five Green and Speckled Frogs". 

 I found the piggy version of the song here along with the awesome idea to make reversible pigs. Thank you, Melissa, for the inspiration!

Five Pigs So Squeaky Clean!

Sing it to “Five Green and Speckled Frogs”

Five pink pigs so squeaky clean
Cleanest you’ve ever seen
Wanted to go outside and play
Oink! Oink!
One jumped into the mud
Landed with a great big thud
Then there were four clean squeaky pigs. 

Continue until all the pigs have joined in the muddy fun:

And now there are NO clean squeaky pigs!

Oink! Oink!

  (This is spoken, not sung.)

But there are five muddy pigs!

Let's count them.

1-2-3-4-5.

I hope you have lots of muddy fun as you make your own pig(s) with your little one(s). Sometimes it is good to remember the process can be just as important or more important than the product. But with this particular craft, you get both!

Enjoy! And, as always,

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

 

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