Muddy Faces supports the Nature Premium Campaign.
The campaign calls for a Nature Premium to fund regular nature experiences for every child.
The campaign is independent of any organisation but is underwritten by the Forest School Association, it is managed by volunteers who have seen how children benefit from playing in nature.
"We believe that the Nature Premium would improve children’s mental and physical well-being after lockdown and demonstrate a positive investment in their future development as part of the Green Recovery."
Lily Horseman, Chair of the Forest School Association.
Research from Natural England and academics has demonstrated that time in nature:
The Nature Premium, using the Sports Premium model, will engage children and young people in protecting and promoting biodiversity, supporting the development of the UK's natural capital for future economic gain.
How to get involved:
You can
sign the petition
talk to your MP
spread the word
Go to www.naturepremium.org for more information.
#NaturePremium
We want to improve our information & resources on access & diversity in the outdoors.
As always, you are the experts - please recommend projects & groups / organisations / reports & research / videos, blogs & articles etc, on inclusion, diversity and access, particularly for groups that are often under represented in the outdoors, Forest Schools, and outdoor play and learning.
This could include:
Please send information and resources to share@muddyfaces.co.uk.
We'll add them to the resources we already have on the Outdoor Hub, which you can currently find in our Health & Wellbeing information pages and links pages - do take a look and see if there is anything we should add. Thank you.
Photo is from North Scarle primary school - the winner of our 2019 Mud Day photo competition in which we particularly encouraged entries of photos from under-represented groups.
To gather all the amazing learning from last month's Mud Day, we've extended the deadline for our Mud Tips competition to 31 July.
Send your mud play tips to share@muddyfaces.co.uk
Our favourite wins a mud kitchen hob unit and set of mud kitchen words.
10 runners up win a Mud Kitchen book and Mud Champion medal.
For full competition terms & conditions click here.
Our one stop shop has a diverse selection of practical, educational and inspiring products for all your forest school, outdoor play and learning requirements.
See our full Covid-19 statement here.
Research shows that contact with the natural world is beneficial to our physical & mental wellbeing.
A nature table can be made from anything, from a basket to one of our specially-made units - what's important is what you gather and what you learn.
Bench made from oak, engraved with a lovely design, with a sweet chestnut shelf, all from sustainable grown UK-wood. Also comes with a nature table sign.
Size: L100 x W50cm x H55cm
Nature Table sign • magnifiers & bug viewers • worm & frog lifecycle • specimen tubes & collecting pots • mini-beasts trail set • discover leaves & seeds set • weather set • woodland animals • Shetland wool • shells & pine cones • baskets & pots - & tons more!
Our Outdoor Hub is free to everyone and packed full of literally hundreds of step-by-step, photo-illustrated activities. You don't have to be out in an amazing Forest School or woodland setting, most of the activities can be done at home, in a yard or garden, many of them can be adapted and done indoors.
We really do encourage you to get outside if you can - the benefits to your health and wellbeing are huge - you can read all about them on the Outdoor Hub here.
Click here to browse our Outdoor Hub activities
Our activities are organised in categories so you can find what you need, or use our keyword search (scroll down the left hand menu) to follow your children's interests.
The Outdoor Hub has a wealth of inspiring activities, events and information. Each section has been designed to encourage engagement in the outdoors, connection with nature and to help spark imaginative play and creativity.
Nature & nature connection
Books, guides & useful websites, Nature Connection & Nature Deficit, research, reports & videos.
Useful websites: nature
Signposting you to the main national bodies, key organisations, initiatives and websites in the world of sustainability, environment, nature & conservation outdoors.
We do our best to keep these links up to date. If you find any broken links, or have a suggestion of a link to add, please email share@muddyfaces.co.uk with ‘links’ in the subject line. Thank you.