Been wanting to try this for a while with my girlfriend, but it's been getting too cold around here for us to go outside so we've been discussing playing in my bathtub. Trouble is that I'm not really sure what an affordable way to fill it is, as we're both students and we don't really have the ability to spend hundreds of dollars on this.

Any of y'all know of a decently cheap way to fill a bathtub (at least to 3 inches?) I feel like dirt is probably the best option, but all the dirt I've run into at home depot is filled with sticks and stones.

Help / advice would be appreciated (made an account just for this haha). Apologies if this is the wrong forum.

Thanks!

Personally I'd line the tub with plastic and use clay if you're trying to do mud. Order 25# of kaolin. Or you could get some Gunge from messysupplies.

Shaving foam with a little water mixed in, can create an interesting slop, and one that's easy to clean away at the end. Mix in a little Gunge and you get an interesting consistency too.

If you want something thicker then porridge/oatmeal can expand massively when warm water is added and it's left for a time, and that's not costly.

Been having a hard time finding kaolin (at least ones that can ship) but I did find a local clay supply store that sells 50lbs for between $30 and $40

https://www.clayworkssupplies.com/product-category/clay/

Anybody know the difference between the different types of clay that are sold here / the best type for us to use?

Use a smaller tub

But seriously I'll back up the shave foam/a little water mix idea. It's the traditional clown "slosh" they've been using for skits for years.

Turn on the faucet.

Just make sure that whatever you use will go safely down the drain. Oatmeal will require scooping into pails to dump into the toilet. Other substances may be diluted and put down the drain. I would not recommend letting clay go down, as the particles may not go around corners well, and could block the pipes.