We’re a little behind with our gardening fun at the moment. We were away until the beginning of August, so we’ve only just now had a chance to get to the July Mud & Bloom box. Hopefully the belated planting won’t matter!
(Also, my pictures aren’t as pretty as usual as there were people around while we were doing the box and everything was rather… distracting. Sorry.)
There’s some lovely goodies in the July box. There are seeds, of course, nature-based craft activities, plus some lovely interesting things to about what’s going on in nature.
There’s even a quiz to test what you’ve learned! As it happens we have a silver birch in the garden, so that was an easy one. We have to travel further afield for the rest.
For the flower vase craft there was a little packet of buttons and some washi tape included in the box.
Little C went for an abstract minimalist look for this one. Now we just need some flowers to put in it!
This is the other craft activity in the box – Nature Paint Brushes. You collect sturdy twigs, plus leaves, grass, and flowers, and create little paint brushes with them. This is such a lovely idea, especially as there was paint included in the June and February boxes.
The seeds this month are Lettuce and Giant Radishes. We planted some in egg carton cups using the little peat pellets that are included in the box.
There were still quite a few seeds left so we decided to plant the extras in the garden. Little C found a couple of twigs and we attached the seed packets as markers.
Technically these should have been done last month, but were hoping the weather stays more or less fine so they’ll grow nicely. And fresh lettuce from the garden is a lovely treat!
Mud & Bloom is a wonderful way to get your child (and you!) out in to nature, observing, learning, and creating. It’s also the perfect opportunity to grow plants of your very own. You don’t even need a garden, just yogurt pots or egg cartons for seedlings, and perhaps a larger pot of window box when they start to grow.
You always get something edible to grow as well as something decorative, which will help teach your child about where their food comes from.
The crafts themselves are charming, and really encourage children to use their imagination. It also is a great incentive to explore the great outdoors.
*
Here’s another little update for you! Check out the amazing sunflowers from the March box.
The biggest one, half out of shot on the right, is bigger than I am! Haven’t they come up beautifully?
*******************************************************************
Click here to read more Mud & Bloom reviews!
*******************************************************************
Quick blurb and pricing from the website:
A Mud & Bloom box costs £7.95 a month inclusive of shipping if you’re based in the UK.
Get 20% discount off your first box with the code FIRSTBOX20
The boxes are for 3-8 year olds and will be delivered through your letter box at the beginning of each month.
Each box includes everything you need for two seasonal activities: one gardening and one nature craft – along with instructions, quizzes and games aimed at teaching children about the seasons, plants, insects, birds, soil and rainfall.
Activities have been created by qualified teachers and they support the national curriculum with influence from Forest School, Steiner and Montessori education.
*******************************************************************************
