Mud Bowl

Need a fun way to spend a beautiful fall afternoon? Organize a Mud Bowl. This is an annual event that our church group has for the jr. & sr. high kids. Field preparation is paramount to a good mud bowl. The water sprinklers have to be running for hours. Trucks have to be run through the mud to make impressive ruts. Kids need to wear old (i.e. disposable) clothes.

Today's mud bowl was so much fun to watch. The football was well greased to begin the game. The ball was changed intermittently. Sometimes a kick ball was used. Sometimes a beach ball. Sometimes a raw egg. And one quarter was played with everyone but the quarterbacks blindfolded.

Just for kicks, the adults on the sideline threw water balloons at the players throughout the game. They would also throw into the mud pit (a 2 foot hole of muddy water) any unsuspecting teen who wasn't quite up to par in the mud department. The kids would try to tackle the referees. Everyone within 20 feet of the field was fair game.

The in between quarters entertainment consisted of relay races with the players attached to each other with tape duct, building human pyramids, an egg toss and things of that nature. If you were willing to swallow a raw egg your team was awarded an additional 5 points. And in this case, the game was ultimately decided by a tug of war between the teams.

At the end of the game, the kids were hosed off and after a change of clothes, everyone went home - tired but happy campers.

I can't wait for next year!