Since we first started in 2007, we have created and funded our own campaigns, providing free initiatives to support the outdoor community. Find out more here.
Everything we do at Muddy Faces is designed to support you and your children to be outdoors - from early years and primary school through to adulthood. Our sustainable approach fosters rich, positive experiences that encourage play, learning, and growth.
We believe that spending time outside and connecting with nature is vital for our physical and mental wellbeing, and we are well known for championing the benefits that the outdoors offers people of all ages.
At Muddy Faces we truly believe in what we are building and providing. We are constantly learning and evolving. We know that by being outdoors a profound love and understanding of the natural world can occur which, over time, will help nurture a more sustainable and contented way of living. We believe everybody benefits from more time outdoors and we want to help you to access the outdoor environment effectively and sustainably.
By creating a family-friendly place to work, we have created a flexible, supportive business at Muddy Faces. The majority of our staff, including founder Liz, work part-time with hours to suit their families. The working environment is supportive and everyone is passionate about children, the quality of the products and maintaining an extremely high level of customer service.
Reducing environmental impact
We endeavour to reduce our environmental impact for a more sustainable future for people of all ages, from Early Years to adult. We aim to embody our values throughout all our business practices, from reducing packaging, through to the information we share on the Outdoor Hub.
Read More about Reducing environmental impactOver the years we have created & supported a number of campaigns that have affected the day-to-day experiences of most early years children in the UK and many abroad. Each year we use any profit from the shop to fund these campaigns.
Mud campaign
We created our Mud Play Initiative, now known as the Muddy Faces Mud Campaign, in 2011 and have been promoting play with natural resources and, in particular, mud, ever since.
Nature Premium
A campaign underwritten by the FSA calling for a Nature Premium to fund regular nature experiences for every child.
Inspired by the remarkable butterfly effect initiated by the Making a Mud Kitchen booklet, we embarked on a collaborative journey with Professor Jan White. Together, we crafted and freely distributed a series of booklets aimed at enhancing outdoor practice.
Valuing the Outdoors: Shared vision and values for outdoor play and learning in the Early Years.
Putting Values into Practice: Building your approach and pedagogy for playing and learning outdoors.
Reasons to be Outside: Why young children need at least 3 hours of outdoor play every day.
Loving Loose Parts Outdoors: A vision for loose parts as core to outdoor philosophy and pedagogy. New for 2024
FREE Making A Mud Kitchen book
Making a Mud Kitchen has everything you need to know about mud kitchens – all the whats, whys, wheres and hows - and is available to download for free.
Making a Mud Kitchen has been translated into TWELVE different languages and counting! Download your free pdf in • English • Croatian • French • German • Greek • Hungarian • Icelandic • Italian • Portuguese • Spanish • Swedish • Turkish or Welsh below.
Read More about FREE Making A Mud Kitchen bookThe Outdoor Hub has been developed to provide useful and honest information, activities and events all focused on the outdoors.
Access to the Outdoor Hub and all its content is FREE to everyone, whether or not they are a Muddy Faces customer.
Outdoor Hub
The Outdoor Hub is a massive FREE resource filled with activities, information and events to support you to get outdoors. Connecting to the elements, nature and each other has incredible positive health and wellbeing benefits.
Activities
A massive selection of outdoor play and learning activities and ideas! Whether you are a Forest School leader, work in the early years , a KS1/KS2 teacher or anyone interested in working in the outdoors, we hope there's something for you!
Training & Events Calendar
Have a browse for Forest School, Forest Kindergarten & other outdoor play and nature play related training and events, all associated with nature and being outdoors.
Find out more about Forest School training here and view our list of trainers signed up to the Muddy Faces Trainers Community here.
Sign up for our free newsletter, including our regular What's On News highlighting upcoming events to inspire your work and play outdoors, here: The Muddy Faces Newsletter.
Read More about Training & Events Calendar
The Outdoor Practitioner magazine
Our themed magazines feature articles, ideas & activities to support you to work, learn & play outdoors.
- Full of contributions from real-life Outdoor Practitioners
- Perfect for Early Years, primary schools, Forest School & outdoor settings old and new
Issue 5: Risky Play Focus: available in our shop.
Issues 1-4: access online for FREE below - download or read online with our fancy flipbook tool.
To contribute to the Outdoor Practitioner magazine or reproduce one of our articles in your newsletter or magazine, email editor@muddyfaces.co.uk
The quality of the products we add to our range is paramount to us. We have very few returns due to product issues.
We are always interested in new and useful pieces of kit or any ideas that you may have. Please drop us a line and let us know if there is anything that you think we should be carrying in our product range.
We also manufacture a number of our own products such as palm drills and dragons sneezes and we specialise in UK-grown wood.
Guide to palm drills
Palm drills are perfect to use with children as an introduction to tool use in woodwork and simple activities.
Read More about Guide to palm drills
Dragons Sneeze
Fire lighting and campfire cooking can be a wonderful part of the outdoor experience for Early Years and Primary school children. The Dragons Sneeze is a fire steel & striker we designed and created especially for Forest School groups and practitioners - easy for all ages and abilities to make the perfect spark. Find out how and why the Dragons Sneeze became...
Read More about Dragons Sneeze
UK-grown wood
Supporting woodlands for the future for everyone from Early Years to adults.
All our natural wood products are handmade in the Muddy Faces workshop from materials sourced from sustainably-managed woodlands in the UK. The management of these woodlands supports local crafts people and local wildlife for a sustainable future.
Read More about UK-grown wood
Muddy Faces & Forest School
Muddy Faces: the original Forest School shop. Supporting outdoor practitioners and promoting the benefits of Forest School and outdoor play and learning since 2007.
Read More about Muddy Faces & Forest School
Muddy Faces catalogue
At Muddy Faces, we’re passionate about children’s health, wellbeing, and the power of the outdoors. Our catalogue features thousands of products alongside free resources, expert advice, and inspiring activities. Every year we share ideas to help practitioners enrich outdoor experiences for children and families.
Read More about Muddy Faces catalogue
The Muddy Faces Newsletter
Sign up for our FREE email newsletter & keep up to date with
- New activities & resources on the free Outdoor Hub
- What's On News full of inspiring outdoor events
- Industry news, research & funding opportunities
- Exclusive giveaways, checkout freebies & discounts
- New products & items on sale
Active Boundaries
Children in the Early Years (and of all ages) have an endless fascination with exploring boundaries; given the opportunity they will consistently cross over, under or through them.
The world is full of boundaries and edges, not only physical but also social, all of which need to be identified, explored and played with to be understood.
Join us going Over, Under & Through (OUT) our Active Boundaries.
Woodworking
Early years woodwork expert Pete Moorhouse, introduces this section and offers tips and advice on woodworking with Early Years & Primary Schools. There are also guides to whittling and tool use, and research and articles on the future of traditional crafts.
There is a comprehensive woodworking section in our shop, that follows Pete's recommendations on tools and resources, and tool use guides & activities in our activity section.
Read More about Woodworking
Nature & nature connection
Early Years and primary school children thrive when they can access nature - it impacts their physical and mental development & wellbeing.
Find out about Nature Premium, Nature Connection & Nature Deficit, with research, reports & videos; guides to nature play & wildlife, books, articles, videos & useful websites.