My son had a sand pit for years, it was one of the first things we were ever gifted via the blog. It was well used for a time but not all year round. My son has always loved digging, and even aged nine he still loves imaginative play. So some years ago I removed a shrub that was dying from the back of our garden and gave him an area behind our garage where he could dig to his heart’s content. He could have fun in the mud pit as we called it, as often as he liked, all year round, come rain or shine.
If I’m honest, I thought he’d lose interest in a couple of years and I’d be able to reclaim the area for some plants. But no, aged nine, he loves his area of the garden as much as ever. He’s definitely encroached on the lawn a little too, but as the area is out of sight from the house I’m not too bothered.
It’s lovely to see him playing in his own little world with no tech gadgets to hand. He’ll happily play out there for hours, digging holes, moving soil, adding water and making a mess with mud.
Simple pleasures in a postage stamp sized garden. I often feel guilty about my son being an only child and not having a sibling to share adventures with. Then I look at him having fun in the mud pit and realise that actually, he’s quite happy creating his own adventures with no one else to please but himself.
If he could just stop growing so that I don’t need to keep buying him new overalls every five minutes that would be great! But otherwise, I’m happy for him to keep digging for as long as he likes.
Do your kids enjoy digging in the mud?
N has never been a digger at home although he used to like the mud kitchen at nursery. Sometimes they’ll all still be outside playing in it at after school club although the school age kids usually turn it into a restaurant than anything digging wise.
I guess he’s got lots of other things to keep him busy on the farm though
I love this – simple outdoor fun at its best and how lovely that your son still gets enjoyment out of his area of the garden. We have several areas in our garden that we don’t really do anything with. If Sophie helps me in the garden, she knows she’s allowed to dig in those areas but she doesn’t really have an area that is hers. This makes me think that perhaps I should do something similar. Thank you for sharing with #CountryKids
It’s so simple, I wish I’d put a mud kitchen in when he was younger, but this way he does exactly what he likes really.
So, when can I send my two round? My boys love digging, they imagine they’re on a construction site mostly with Stanley being the foreman (basically bossing James around) and James is usually driving a digger or dump truck. I think playing in mud is what boys do best! #CountryKids
I totally agree, guest diggers always welcome