Mud play is a simple, accessible and powerful part of outdoor learning and outdoor play. It offers children rich opportunities to explore, create and connect with the natural world through hands-on, open-ended experience.
Below are 10 key ways mud play supports children’s learning, development and wellbeing across Early Years, Forest School and Primary School settings.
Squishing, mixing and shaping mud engages touch, movement and the senses in a fully embodied way, supporting children to explore materials deeply.
Digging, lifting, pouring and manipulating mud helps build strength, coordination and fine motor skills.
Mud is an open-ended material. Children can invent, transform and create freely without fixed outcomes or expectations.
Mud naturally invites investigation – mixing water and soil, observing change, and experimenting with cause and effect.
Building, balancing, mixing and testing ideas through mud play encourages early scientific thinking and problem-solving.
Shared mud play supports communication, cooperation and collaborative play, as children create and explore together.
Mud play can be calming, absorbing and joyful. Immersive, hands-on play supports emotional regulation and a sense of wellbeing.
Direct contact with soil and natural materials helps children develop familiarity with and care for the natural world.
There is no right or wrong way to play with mud. It supports exploration, experimentation and confidence in trying things out.
Exposure to soil and natural environments can support immune development and contribute to overall health and resilience.
Mud play doesn’t require specialist equipment or large spaces. A simple patch of soil, access to water and a few basic tools can create rich opportunities for learning and play.
Whether in a nursery garden, school grounds, Forest School site or home space, mud offers children the chance to explore, create and connect through direct experience.
Child led play
At Muddy Faces we feel it is vitally important to consider a child-led approach when making activities available to your groups.
We asked Jan White, internationally-recognised consultant and speaker for outdoor provision in the early years, to explain.
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Physical play benefits of den building
Den building and den play supports children's physical development in so many different ways!
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Tips for connecting to nature in the garden
Gardening tips from Menna Godfrey, Early Years Teacher & director at Outdoors Thinking.
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The importance of soil
Soil and water make mud. We talk a lot about the benefits of Mud to the individual at Muddy Faces.
If you want to dig deeper into the importance of soil and it's place in our environment, here are some links & resources to get you started.
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Mud reports & research
Evidence for the benefits to children of mud play.
These reports & research are, as much as possible, arranged in chronological order, most recent at the top
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.
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