new booklet on making a mud kitchen

A mud kitchen includes elements of the much-loved domestic corner and cooking from indoor play, which are then hugely enriched through the special nature of being outside.  - Jan White

Mud kitchens, mud pie kitchens, outdoor kitchens - no matter what you choose to call them - are such a valuable addition to any outdoor play space that I have blogged about them time and time again.


Jan White, author and all round outdoor play guru clearly shares my enthusiasm for all things mud pie kitchen.  So much so that she has written the book on it.  A free, easy to download booklet called "Making a Mud Kitchen."

Says Jan:

There are hundreds of wonderful, homemade mud kitchens being shared on blogs and pinterest around the world – take a nice long tour and be enthused and inspired!

If you are looking for an inexpensive and simple addition to your outdoor space that will provide hours of engagement for children of all ages, then you can't go past a mud pie kitchen, and you can't go past "Making a Mud Kitchen" for inspiration.

for the love of boxes

It's been a train, a car, a stable for horses and a robot. Now it's a communal work of art.

Boxes.  Where would we be without them?

If there were ever any doubts as to the usefulness of the humble cardboard box, this beautifully made little video clip would dispel them all:

The Adventures of a Cardboard Box

stump loving

Welcome to another week of  It's Playtime.   

Playful Picks

You all know that I'm a sucker for a natural playscape, so it will come as no surprise that I love the colourful stumps in Adventures at Home with Mum's backyard:

Meet my Partners in play:

Messy Kids,

The Imagination Tree ,

hands on: as we grow and

QuirkyMomma

What have you been playing this week?

Linking up is simple.

Extra, extra, read all about it.

Let the Children Play is now publishing a monthly newsletter.

Signing up for a free newsletter is simple.  Head on over to the sidebar on the right of the blog, and enter your email address in the space under the heading "newsletter".


Why might you want yet another email to clog up your mailbox?  I think that we are on a similar wavelength. The blogs, news, quotes and play ideas that I find useful in my life are likely to be useful in yours.

And I promise not to fill it with my own blog posts that you have (hopefully) already read!

Right now I have a total of one subscriber.  Me.  I'd love you to join me so I don't get lonely.

Do you have a newsletter on  your blog?  What do you include?

Do you read newsletters on blogs?  What do you find useful?  

mtrismegistos

mtrismegistos

There's no rush. A wander in the bush.

If you go down to the bush today you might see us...just hanging around.

No agenda.

No hurry.  No time to be back.

No boxes to be ticked.

Just plenty of time to wander through the landscape wherever curiosity leads us.  

  In today’s world of standardized testing, TV, organized sports and electronic toys, children have very little time for just being kids and engaging in real self-directed free play - especially in natural settings.

Let's take free play seriously!

preschool teacher or set designer?

I'd thrown a rug down on our wooden "stage", but it was lonely and ignored all morning until I slung up several lengths of colourful fabric behind it.  Within minutes:

the stage was full, and plans were afoot for the next sold out all dancing extravaganza.

Sometimes, being a preschool teacher is just like being a set designer.

We set the stage and then stand back and wait for amazing things to happen.  

And happen they do.  Every single day.