We source our UK grown wood from sustainably-managed woodlands. This helps with their management and to support their future viability.
We aim to supply a sustainable alternative to plastic play and learning resources.
Sustainably-managed woodlands maintain the balance between ecological, economic and socio-cultural considerations. This provides benefits such as supporting local livelihoods, biodiversity and ecosystems, and offering recreational opportunities to support health and well-being.
All woodlands benefit from being managed to a lesser or greater degree. When trees are removed it allows light to penetrate to the woodland floor, enabling new growth and encouraging diversity in the woodland flora and fauna. Hand-harvesting by skilled crafts people, as part of the sustainable management plan, allows the wood to be extracted sympathetically with minimum disturbance to the natural environment.
All of the wood we use in our own products is grown in the UK. Consider the carbon footprint of a plastic item travelling from China, and the resources, including the fossil fuels, that were used to make it. As our wood grows it traps atmospheric carbon and produces oxygen, then travels a relatively short distance to be processed in our local workshop. The wood we use is harvested sustainably through traditional coppicing techniques or replenished by further tree planting.
Connecting to nature from an early age helps instill a deep, sometimes intuitive sense of our place within the natural world, that leads to a love and respect for our environment. To play and learn with wood is a full sensory experience. The unique character of each piece can be explored, with its bends, knots, flaky bark, different colours, textures and smells. Natural materials can help bring elements of the outdoors in to our structured, indoor spaces. This can be very helpful when aiming to create appropriate, calming, sensory-environments indoors.
Natural untreated wood is fully biodegradable and, with a little help from some fungi, it will decompose, adding nutrients to the ground when it has reached the end of its useable life. What happens to our piece of plastic? Will it end up in landfill or even in the stomach of a shearwater chick on a faraway island? Plastic is undeniably a massive part of our modern lives and we have many plastic products in our shop. Through our UK-grown range of wood products, we try to do something to help offset the image, plastic products have, where we can. We'd love you to try some of our wooden products and see how they work for you as an alternative to plastic. Together we can start to shift the balance of how our learning resources are produced onto a more sustainable path.
All our natural wood products are handmade in the Muddy Faces workshop from materials sourced from sustainable, managed woodlands in the UK. The management of these woodlands support local crafts people and local wildlife. Each piece of our wood is in its natural form and still has its bark on. Every piece has its own unique character with bends, knots, flaky bark, different colours and number of growth rings.
When you purchase any of our UK-grown wood products we'll pop this flyer in with your parcel.
