Muddy Boots garden re-design. March Progress

I have drawn out my final-ish design. I will be making a few changes as I go along but this is generally what I am aiming for the be in place before my pre-school stay and play sessions begin in mid April.

The Mud kitchen has been in a few positions and I think I am most happy with it here. In the foreground of the photo you can see the sandpit. I have recycled the wood from the existing sandpit and dug out as much sand as possible and reused this too. I’ve made the sandpit smaller, as I could never afford to fill the old pit, so this one is half the size but easier to access from all sides and away from the fence.

 

My eldest daughter and I made a willow structure out of living willow that will hopefully take root and fill out to become a lovely shady den. We used willow withies from a large willow tree between our and out neighbours garden’s. This tree fell down in the storms last winter and we cut it right back hoping it would shoot so we could use the wood for craft projects. It was perfect for this.

I hope to get up to the allotment later this week to do a few more bits. I’ve been busy making a website for my business http://mymuddyboots.org.uk/ I really feel like it’s all starting to take shape now and I am fully booked for the Allotment playgroup spring term! This bodes well for the whole year as people tend to renew their bookings for Summer and Autumn too. I also have a waiting list! I will post again once the site is finished or maybe after the first session.

 

 

Forest School skills day

This weekend I attended a Forest school skills development day in a local woodland. I have been to a few of these days before and always loved them. They are a great chance to spend a day in the woods, playing with new ideas, trying out unfamiliar tools and cooking lunch on a campfire. I learnt a lot from the other practitioners and have honed my skills at lighting Kelly Kettles in the pouring rain! The photos show a selection of the things that we got up to.

My Forest school sessions start after the Easter holidays. I will doing two weekly sessions for pre-school kids and their parents and a monthly saturday session for primary aged children. I am also doing two weekly allotment playgroup sessions and teaching photography every monday, so its going to be a busy few months leading up to the summer break! I can’t wait to get started. The build up is always hard, much of the work is front loaded, getting kit and sites sorted, advertising and administrating bookings and preparing my sessions. I enjoy every stage, but actually leading sessions is what I like best and its almost time now!

Emergency shelter out of a tarp

3 legged stool

Stick pictures frame, I thought these could be good for throwing a ball through too

rope spiders web

low balance beam

base camp set up to cook in

Wild garlic bread

Shave horse

Hook

Gypsy rose

Gear shelter

High shelter