INSPIRATIONS - sunshine & shadows
A collection of simple outdoor activities for a sunny day – any time of year!
Read More about INSPIRATIONS - sunshine & shadowsJuly news: summer time & end of term ☀️
Summer activities & new inspirations pages plus news & events.
Our July newsletter - for those who aren't signed up to get it by email. To subscribe to our monthly newsletter scroll down to the bottom of the page.
Here comes the summer! ☀️
Happy holidays are here again and we are hoping for a bit of sunshine and time to do some summer crafting. Have a go at the simple acrylic paint sun print activity on our NEW INSPIRATIONS - sunshine & shadows page - and our other NEW INSPIRATIONS - blackberries page on the Outdoor Hub.
New activity inspirations on the Outdoor Hub
INSPIRATIONS - blackberries
A collection of blackberry nature activities, including recipes and some great art & craft ideas.
Read More about INSPIRATIONS - blackberries
Sun print materials in the shop
Sun Print Paper - Pack of 30
£15.99 exVATNature Print Paper. Class pack (30 sheets). A wonderful photographic paper that requires no chemical photographic equipment or darkroom facilities, merely natural sunlight. Simply place objects onto the surface of the light sensitive paper and leave to expose. Finally, soak the paper ...
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Sunography Fabric - 6 sheets
£12.99 exVATSolar powered photography! The pack contains 6 high quality light sensitive cotton fabric squares in an assortment of colours; green, orange, rose, turquoise, violet and white. Place any object or transparency on the sunography fabric, expose in bright sunlight and rinse with ...
Buy now
Mud Champions
We had an amazing 85 nominations for a total of 40 different people and projects. It was such a joy to read through them all and hear about the marvellously messy mud play and commitment to natural play outdoors that is all around us. Congratulations everyone for all the brilliant work you do!
Thank you to everyone that made a nomination. It was so very hard to whittle them down to just 10 winners that we decided to squeeze in a couple more to make it a round dozen.
Look out for a future newsletter where we’ll tell you more about the winners – for now here are their names – if you read this and know them, please let them know! (people who nominated - we'll be getting in touch with you for more info soon)
Our top 12 Mud Champions - congratulations!
Practitioners
★ Sue Charles, Woodlands Primary School, Sheffield ★ Ruth Hill, Fruits of the Forest, Stourbridge ★ Lydia Dix, Little Footprints, Swansea ★ Helen Wilson, Little Puddle People, Sheffield ★ Katie Webber, St Michael's Nursery, Barnstaple ★ Julie Cook Crawford's CofE Primary School, Haughley, Suffolk ★ Nick Couzsens, Mission: Wild Adventure, Sandford, Devon ★ Jess Turver, BD4 Family - Family Forest Friends & Garden Gang, Bradford.
Projects
★ Peterborough Asylum Refugee Community Association (PARCA), Peterborough ★ Little Acorns Preschool, Westport, Co. Mayo, Ireland ★ Coed Ceirios Forest School, Wepre, North Wales ★ The Nature Nest, Chester.
NEW Loose parts booklet
We are working on our latest booklet called Loving Loose Parts!
Look out for it in the autumn.
There are loads of fascinating and inspiring events on our website! You'll find conferences, annual events, special days & campaigns with a focus on nature, the outdoors and wellbeing. Plus courses, training and workshops for every level - from those just starting out to seasoned practitioners. For full details go to our Events Calendar.
Editor's Pick!
Big Butterfly Count
4 July - 6 August
Help Butterfly Conservation assess the health of our environment - choose a place to spot butterflies and moths - watch for 15 minutes then record which species you see.
Go to the website to download a handy butterfly ID chart or free app.
July-August
July
- All month: Plastic Free July
- 14 July – 6 August: Big Butterfly Count
- 22 July – 6 August: National Marine Week
- 28 July – 6 August: Love Parks Week
- 29-30 July (or anytime you like!): RSPB Big Wild Sleep Out
August
- 2 August: Playday
- 2 August: Earth Overshoot Day 2023
- 7-13 August: National Allotments Week
- 12 August: International Youth Day
- 26/27 August: International Bat Night
Editor's Pick!
Playday, 2 August
A celebration of children's right to play & a campaign to highlight the importance of play in children's lives.
This year's theme is playing on a shoestring - making every day an adventure.
International Day of Play survey
Led by a group of organisations who think play is important, including Save the Children, International Play Association, the LEGO Foundation and Right to Play.
Your opinions will be used to develop a document called A Call for Action telling world leaders and organisations what they can do to make the world more playful.
Take part here.
Festivals in August
- 3-6 August: Spoonfest, Derbyshire
- 17-20 August: Wilderness Gathering, Wiltshire
A selection of upcoming training, courses & workshops with an outdoor focus. Find more in the training & courses section of our events calendar.
Forest School Training
Find out more about Forest School training and view our list of trainers signed up to the Muddy Faces Trainers Community here.
Muddy Faces can support your conferences training & events
Do you deliver Forest School training, or other outdoor play or learning training?
Are you running an outdoor or outdoor-related conference this year?
Join our Trainers Community.
- discounts for you & your students in the Muddy Faces shop
- free event listings on our website and links in our newsletter
- catalogues & other free gifts for your events
To find out more send an email to clare.ruskin@muddyfaces.co.uk