Muddy Nature Walks with Kids
Have you ever heard of the Swedish phrase ““there is no such thing as bad weather, there are only bad clothes.” I seem to hear it everywhere at the minute but it’s so true! We truly lived out this phrase this weekend – we had a particularly wet Saturday when it just seemed to rain all day. So when we awoke on the slightly less rain sodden Sunday, my kiddos and I ventured out between rainfalls to let them run off some steam and go wild in muddy puddles! 
When adults see muddy puddles, we avoid them but when kids see mud puddles, they go crazy and jump and splash in them! That is, if we adults let them. Normally I would be the mum strongly advising them against wading through the puddles for fear of all the washing I’d have to do when I got home! But this weekend, I thought of the other phrase I hear a lot ‘the days are long and the years are short’ – they are only so little for such a short time and so why not let them have proper ankle deep adventure in mud?! ‘Mud, Mud, glorious mud and all that!’
But…..my plea for less washing did not go unheard. The kiddos were thrilled to try out Muddy Puddles originals wet weather clothing – they saved the day! We donned Muddy Puddles coats and trousers and set off for muddy opportunities galore at a local woods. The kids had such a great time puddle searching. They ran from path to path in search of the next best puddle. Despite grey skies and some light rain, they still had fun enjoying a nature walk – collecting pine cones and climbing trees. Then they found deep mud to explore! One of them lost their boot in the mud and then another fell in trying to rescue them but nobody minded – they had their trusty waterproof trousers to keep them dry! Archie was completely in his element and had so much fun! He cried when we had to leave the puddles!
We found a little bridge whilst exploring and they had a fun game pretending to be a troll and catch people off the bridge! Later, they found some long grass (which was good for clearing up the wellies a little!) and they gave each other code names and played a kind of code-explorer version of ‘Hide and Seek’!
I read once that mud-walking is a proper activity in Holland and that “everyone in Holland feels they have to a proper mud walk once in a lifetime.” Well, we certainly enjoyed ours and the kiddos haven’t stopped asking when we can do another one!
*Many thanks to Muddy Puddles for the waterproof clothes – they’ve added a whole new dimension to outdoor playing!* All Words, photos and opinions and love of muddy puddles are very much our own!
If you’d like to get outside and explore more with your kids – here’s our fun list of Outdoor Winter Nature Activities for kids! If you’re looking for gifts for kids who love playing in the outdoors like ours – you can find our Kid’s Outdoor Gift Guide here.
For more Muddy walk adventures – see here.
