It is a simple question with a surprisingly elusive answer.

Even Google turns up dry holes.

No one knows where — neither the when nor the why — of the art of the mud-pie.

One of those timeless things,

It extends into the past until its origins blur and disappear from our view.

Its future looks good and practically endless — there should be no shortage of children, water or dirt on Earth.

Mud pastry-making has recently been described: “a fun sensory outdoor-art experience providing valuable learning experiences for the developing child.”

Emphasis on: Experience.

Hundreds of years ago the kids depicted below were having fun, absorbed completely in the present moment.

I wonder though:

Did anyone back then think that making mud pies was like going to school — a valuable learning experience in childhood sensory development?

Ludwig Knaus, Mud Pies. Oil on canvas (1873). Public domain image.

How deep into history does this activity burrow?

In times of advancing and retreating glaciers — the Age of the Neanderthal — de-frosted inhabitable ground must have been wet and sticky. While the parents prepared the meal (yes: the ancient humans had cuisine), what were the kids doing? They were young, playful, full of energy and perhaps mimicked the cooks in the family. Nobody taught them to create mud-pies; the children invented it themselves — and keep on inventing and re-inventing to this day.