11th of April to the 22nd of April is Nature Play Week

From the 11th of April to the 22nd of April is Nature Play Week. Nature Play Week is an annual event that celebrates the importance of outdoor play and connecting children with nature. The following provides activity ideas that will help you celebrate Nature Play Week and can be implemented into the curriculum for children. If the preschool teachers came to me with this list of suggested activities I would find it very easy to provide picture books to use as provocations.

Mud Kitchen Play: Set up a mud kitchen where children can mix, pour, and create with natural materials.

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  Leaf Art: Use leaves to create prints, collages, or even crowns.

  

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  Bug Observation: Provide magnifying glasses for children to observe insects and learn about their habitats.

  

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  Building with Sticks and Stones: Encourage children to construct small structures using sticks, stones, and other natural materials.

  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  Planting Seeds: Teach children about gardening by planting seeds and watching them grow.

  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  Cloud Gazing: Lay down on the grass and let children identify shapes and patterns in the clouds.

  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  

29th June International Mud Day

Mud is a unique medium that provides endless opportunities for play and discovery.

         Josée Bergeron

International Mud Day is celebrated throughout the globe, with children (and adults) celebrating nature, being outdoors, and getting really, really dirty!

Research suggests that mud play is a basic biological need, with a variety of benefits including:

• Boosting your immune system and follow on improvements to your mood through exposure to “friendly soil bacteria”.
• Mud play is an opportunity for children to use their senses, which increases brain activity.
• During mud play, children are not only exercising and being physically active, they are also forming ideas, problem solving and using critical thinking as they play.
• Development and use of fine and gross motor skills, sensory awareness, balance and coordination.

As adults we might not like the mess or the cleaning, but we do need to stand back and let children get dirty.

I have written about this day before. See here.

Here's some books, not mentioned there:

11th January National Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friends Day

Today it is raining here in Sydney, again! A good day for jumping in puddles because it isn't cold just wet.  When my children were young they loved nothing more than putting on gumboots and playing in puddles. On the empty blocks near us they could find tadpoles, lots of mud and thinks to make mudpies. The Americans have a day set aside in the National calendar to do this...the 11th January. I'm not sure if it will be raining then, but I'm sure you can move this celebration to a day when there are puddles. 

Preschoolers love this topic. There is a teacher reference book for Early Childhood titled Puddles which is written by Dr Claire Warden and another called Muddy Boots by Liza Gardner Walsh.

There is a new nonfiction book that was published last year Hello Puddle!  by Anita Sanchez which  explores the deceptively simple but unexpectedly crucial resource for wildlife: puddles! This lyrical, gorgeously illustrated nonfiction picture book is perfect for young science learners and nature lovers.

There are many picture books you could use to talk about puddles and mud. Peppa Pig has at least three books about mud and puddles. See

• The Biggest Muddy Puddle in the World 

• Peppa Pig and the Muddy Puddles

• Peppa's Muddy Puddle Walk

Here's some others you can collect from a library:

• Puddles are forJumping by Kylie Dunstan

• Puddles  by Jonathan London and Brian Karas

• Puddle Hunters by Kirsty Murray and Karen Blair

• Watch Out for Muddy Puddles  by Ben Faulks and Ben Cort

• Puddle  by Hyewon Yum

• Puddle  by Richard Jackson and Chris Raschka 

• Puddling  by Emma Perry and Claire Alexander

• Rain!  by Linda Ashman and Christian Robinson

• Red Rubber Boot Day  by Mary Lynn Ray and Lauren Stringer

• Bridie's Boots  by Phil Cummings and Sara Acton

• Worm Weather by Jean Taft and Matt Hunt

• A Good Day for Ducks by Jane Whittingham and Noel Tuazon

Now off you go, put on your boots and raincoat, grab some plastic boats or rubber duckies and go splash in some puddles. It is the perfect way to relieve stress. Oh and you might like to take some children with you but they are not a prerequisite.

29th June International Mud Day

The creators of International Mud Day wanted to find a way to help all of the children of the Earth feel closer to each other…and what a better way to do it than through the Earth itself? International Mud Day began in 2009 at a World Forum event, when Gillian McAuliffe from Australia and Bishnu Bhatta from Nepal got together to talk about ways to encourage feelings of community and appreciation for the world around us. It has since become a day where children, adults, and organizations across the globe get muddy to raise awareness about the importance of nature for children. 

Mud has always been an important element of childhood. Today most outdoor play occurs at schools/preschools and therefore it is important that schools begin, or continue their discussions and exploration into mud play (and other nature play concepts).

The school I teach at does value outdoor play. Kindergarten go to Bush School once a week for all of second term and then to Beach School once a week for all of fourth term. Here they get to revel in mud, sand, play with stones, sticks, in trees and immerse themselves in nature. Of course what they do here is supplemented by the more formal curriculum in the classroom, which in turn allows for much sharing of literature. If you are looking to 'celebrate mud' try these.