Transforming Our Mud Village

As blustery autumn moves into winter at Rachel Keeling, children continue to embrace the outdoor learning environment. We are always looking for ways to develop and enhance provision. Our mud village is always popular with children playing imaginatively, concocting potions and exploring natural materials.  Staff and children have begun the job of overhauling our mud village storage area and have cleared, audited (using tallies and lists), selected some new resources from our local shop and labelled the area. Children designed their own canvases to organise the shed, using their knowledge of letters and sounds to write labels and decorate the area. Children are able to access the resources more readily now, without needing an adult to help. Children's independence is so important and helps to develop self-esteem.
As with all our provision at Rachel Keeling, we continue to reflect and review it regularly to ensure it provides children with challenging and exciting learning experiences.
Edit: Since time of going to print the children have continued developing the Mud Village. A sign has been created using old off cuts of wood and kindling. The name was chalked onto the backing wood and children worked outdoors using tools safely to saw, hammer and fix the sign. It was varnished and Glenn helped to hang the sign with the children for all to see!