Mudlark Find Number 13 is the partner to Find Number 12, from the Child’s Play soft-back picture book line. It’s author/illustrator Jo Empson’s debut picture book – I hope Child’s Play carry on discovering and publishing such excellent works.
Like all good children’s picture books, this one works on many levels, and much could be made of it by parents and educators. The reason it’s got a place as one of my Mudlark treasures is its potential contribution to creative play outdoors, especially for unfettered music making and a liberated approach to paint and colour. The page where you turn to “he liked painting’ just lifts your spirits and says “Yes! This is what’s special about taking learning outdoors!” You’d want to have a huge plastic sheet and plenty of paint ready…
I’m just off to California to contribute to the Childplay Institute’s Children Learning with Nature 2014 Training Institute at the University of California Santa Cruz campus, with my friends Paul Roberts, Clare Warden, Erin Kenny and Sharon Danks. Have a fabulous Mud Day on Sunday – we will!
P.S. there’s still time to make use of Muddyfaces’ Mud Pack to help you make full use of this international event.
With this section of my website, I share some of the many wonderful treasures I dig up while researching and supporting outdoor play for children from birth to seven. I hope they inspire you too, and help you to create motivational, meaningful and satisfying outdoor play experiences for all the children you work with.
Jan White Natural Play 