Outdoor Play Party - the mud kitchen is a year old!

 It is hard to believe it but our amazing mud kitchen is a year old, it is actually quite difficult to imagine play without it as it is such an integral part of our outdoor time now.
You can read abut how we got to have such an incredible resource over here.

It is lovely how much the children have made it theirs over the past year and have added little additions like a muddy puddle in one corner & also how they continually make new discoveries about the space every day. 

This week 3 children were delighted to find out they could make marks and handprints on the back of the mud kitchen using water.

We were lucky to have the dad of one of our assistants add a little water station as well so the children have somewhere to store all the precious water from the rain barrel when the carry it over to the mud kitchen.

The most important development in the past year is that the Principal of the school saw the value and breadth of play going on in the mud kitchen in nursery and applied for funding to have one built for the Foundation Stage children (4-6 year olds) by one of our amazing caretakers, who also happens to be a master carpenter.

Some days it is just lovely to sit back in the 'forest area' and listen to the chatter of the children as they play beyond the willow entrance into the mud kitchen.

My favourite post from the last Outdoor Play Party was from Rubber Boots and Elf Shoes in a fab post all about finding numbers in their natural environment.
I love to see teachers of older children taking their classes outdoors and some of the numbers created by the children are incredible.

"Now it’s time for this week’s Outdoor Play Party. We would appreciate it if you included a link back to this post (either in your post or sidebar) to help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play! In return, we’ll gladly further share your post on Pinterest. Please feel free to grab the Outdoor Play Party button from the sidebar and/or include a text link back. Please note that by contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished if featured.(If you have been featured, please feel free to grab the ‘featured at’ button from the sidebar.) Share your ideas for outdoor play activities with us every other week!"

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