Reviewed by
Roxie
I’ve always believed that giving children the opportunity to explore the world around them is incredibly important for their wellbeing and happiness. Mud & Bloom is a monthly subscription box full of seasonal activities, materials and ideas to inspire and encourage children to connect with nature. Boxes are recommended for ages 3-8 and are delivered through your letterbox at the beginning of each month. Each box contains everything you need for four planting, exploration and crafting projects as well as quizzes and activities designed to teach children about seasons, plants, insects, birds, soil and rainfall.
All seeds are certified organic and biodynamic. Plus, Mud & Bloom provide organic peat-free compost pellets to enable subscribers to get planting immediately, even if you don’t have a garden! Activities have been created by qualified teachers and support the national curriculum with influence from Forest School, Steiner and Montessori education.
I absolutely loved October’s box. Unfortunately, Penny and I were isolating throughout October as we tested positive for Covid and were incredibly bored being stuck inside. Thankfully, Mud & Bloom was so accessible that we could do activities in our own garden.
Our box contained: soil pellets, wax paper, embroidery thread, thin wire, gluestick, mask templates, a tealight, a quiz, planting instructions and guidance, a plant label, organic spinach seeds and Narcissus bulbs.
Activities included:
Make your own… Autumn Leaf Masks – Penny used leaves to decorate bear, owl and butterfly templates provided. This really encouraged her to look about the garden and notice all the different colours and textures.
Grow your own… Narcissus & Spinach – Penny’s favourite activity was to grow her own giant spinach leaves in her old, used yoghurt tubs. She enjoyed pouring water onto the soil pellets and watch then absorb the water and grow. She also liked creating little holes with her fingers and dropping the seeds inside.
Make your own… Autumn Leaf Lantern – This activity included instructions for constructing a simple paper lantern using wire, wax paper and sticks, then we decorated it with autumn leaves. You can then use the tealight to light it up and watch the leaves glow as the evenings get darker.
Autumn Nature Spotter & Quiz – Encouraging children to go for a walk and spot different signs of autumn including conkers. geese moving south, field mushrooms and oak leaves changing colour.
By Mary 
