The Muddy Faces story - nearly 20 years old!

2007

Launch of Muddy Faces outdoor resources website and the start of our continuing dedication to producing kits, guides and literature to help practitioners outdoors, with a particular focus on Forest Schools.

Production of How To cards for using tools and lighting fires, and our Forest School Leader’s guide for using knives with groups.

2008

Where possible we begin to source products produced in the UK.

2009

We produce our very popular free den building guide. We also move out of the attic room into a small warehouse.

2010

We launch our Mud Campaign in collaboration with Early Years specialist Professor Jan White, encouraging outdoor play and engagement with natural materials as part of every child’s continuous provision - particularly through mud play and mud kitchens.

Jan wrote, and Liz Edwards designed, Making a Mud Kitchen – our booklet showing a virtually cost-free way to set up this kind of play

"We realised that, if we wanted the concept to become mainstream, we needed to do more than simply sell a few copies. So we explored how Muddy Faces could distribute it for free, and - with some belt-tightening - produced 18,000 copies, distributing 16,000 at no cost through Early Years conferences and training events." Liz

We also make the book available as a free download on our website where it has had more than 20,000 downloads.

As part of the ongoing campaign, Muddy Faces continues to promote and celebrate International Mud Day on 29 June, regularly adding new resources to our free Outdoor Hub mud pages.

This was the first of our campaigns. Over two decades we have created and supported important outdoor initiatives to benefit the health and wellbeing of children outdoors. Click below to find out more.

2012

We start to produce our own wood products, handmade from materials sourced from sustainably-managed woodlands in the UK. This has become an increasingly popular and expanding range.

It’s amazing to know that by choosing a UK-grown wooden item you are supporting the viability and management of UK woodlands for future generations, whilst at the same time not depleting the world’s resources by buying an imported plastic toy. It is a difficult process to achieve, as every piece of our wood is lovingly cut by hand, stored under cover, then turned into one of our products.

2014

We produce our first catalogue. Each year we dedicate space in the catalogue to help support people to get outdoors and the organisations that support this aim.

2016

"The results of our mud campaign are becoming truly visible nationally and internationally. Most early years settings now have access to play with natural materials if not a mud kitchen. Books have been written to support this type of play and large commercial companies now have at least ten types of mud kitchens to choose from.

Although buying an all-singing mud kitchen veers away from the original concept of recycling and using children’s involvement in the design of the kitchen, it does show that the concept is now truly mainstream. Jan and I are extremely proud of what our campaign has achieved and very excited about the international response." Liz

The Making a Mud Kitchen book has been translated into a dozen different languages including Welsh, Portuguese, Hungarian, German, Spanish, Greek and Italian. In Italy it was printed and given away free with an Early Years magazine.

2017

In 2017 we celebrate our tenth birthday and put together this short history and highlights from over the years - we've been adding to it ever since...

We introduce the water droplet guide to our catalogue and website to show at a glance how waterproof an item of clothing is.

2018

Our exciting new Outdoor Hub is launched, full of all kinds of inspiration – from free activity downloads to outdoor events listings, including training and festivals, plus research, guides and information, and tons of external links.

We run a competition to name our popular fire steel & striker – and the Dragons Sneeze gets its name!

We’re proud to support the first ever Forest School Day, and continue to do so every year.

2019

Early Years woodwork expert Pete Moorhouse writes an introduction for our new Outdoor Hub Woodworking section, and provides tips, tool recommendations, safety advice and more.

2020

The pandemic and UK lockdowns - we decide to stay open to provide resources for parents with children at home - we jump in and gather a vast library of resources for home learning as well as research on the importance of time spent outdoors through lockdown.

The millions of dandelions on the uncut road verges brightened up this difficult period. As children return to school, we introduce our campaign to bring nature tables back to the classroom.

2021

Our modular mud kitchen is voted Best For Open-Ended Play in the Independent's article 11 best mud kitchens to encourage your child’s creativity.

We launch the Outdoor Practitioner Magazine - designed to support you to work, learn & play outdoors, full of articles, ideas & activities, with contributions from real-life practitioners & outdoor experts.

Back issues 1-4 available to download for free.

2022

For the first time we produce a printed version of the Outdoor Practitioner magazine – our Risky Play focus.

Outdoors Thinking is co-founded by Liz, Prof Jan White and Janet Packer, providing training and resources that help practitioners create high-quality outdoor provision.

2023

We launch our Mud Champions campaign, celebrating the everyday heroes who go out of their way to support messy outdoor play.

Outdoors Thinking is awarded Highly Commended for Trainer of the Year at the prestigious Nursery World Awards.

2024

We are proud to launch our new Active Boundaries concept and product range and share the pedagogy behind it.

The Den Kit Company joins the Muddy Faces family.

We publish our Loving Loose Parts booklet and updated Outdoor Hub Loose Parts section.

As long term supporters of the Forest School Association, we are delighted to sponsor their national conference in 2024.

2025

World Forum Foundation, the founders of Mud Day, feature Muddy Faces mud resources on their website and newsletter.

We continue our support of organisations and initiatives who align with our values, by becoming Play Day Champions, and supporting the National Week of Play and Maths Week Scotland, 2025 theme: Wild Maths.

See also