Down By The River
I had such a fab time today watching children play.It bought back memories of my childhood and it threw open a lot of questions for me.

I knew I would want to write about it and as I sat on the muddy grass pondering I thought of two bloggers that I knew who this post would be relevant to..

One was ever so obvious Fiona from Coombe Mill Blog such a obvious supporter of kids outdoors play this post was right up her linkys street,the other was not quite so obvious but my mind kept toying it over and the thoughts kept buzzing at me....it was Jennie at Edspire who has just started the Messy Play For Matilda Mae Linky,where people link up ideas about messy play for children,this is something I am really passionate about and as I sat watching this group of children play I thought that although no tuff spots were involved they were indeed involved in messy play to the highest degree.So I asked Jennie and she said link up and here Iam linking!
 

And after all that waffly intro here is today's take on outdoor messy play.

After several days of spending way too much time wallowing and slouching around I decided that we would go for a walk no matter what!

Chips wanted to watch the MotoGp racing but that was at 4.00pm and I wanted him to do something more before he took to the sofa once again.

I knew the spot I wanted to go to...a little hidden bit of muddy grass near the stream...it had bits of rope hanging from a tree where children had made rope swings and was the perfect place to really grub about.What more could a kid want...mud,water,trees and sticks,bliss!

So we set off,Chips on his scooter me trailing behind,trying to get my head in gear as lately it's been anywhere but in gear.

We reached the comp and the first thing we both noticed was a organized football match taking place.

Now this always takes me back to when my two older boys were younger and they both played for the village footy team.I had to stop and watch for a while and as I listened to the shouts of the parents and coaches I was whisked back to the day when I stood on the touch lines and my boys raced around the football pitch...days gone by.

If you peep you can see the footballers in between the trees

After standing and watching for a while we set of for the mud spot I had in mind.

We scootered on down to the river and all of a sudden yells of "Chips,hello Chips" came from down the river bank ~ it was one of Chippies classmates with two of his friends.

I made a snap decision to let Chips go down to the river to see what was going on and what was going on was good old fashioned messy play...water,mud,sticks,stones ~ slip slop play....I loved it!I sat at the top of the river bank (getting a increasing wet,muddy bum) trying to keep out of the play and letting the children do what comes naturally....explore and play.

And it was so,so good!There was laughter,squeals,ideas flowing to and from each other,sharing,kindness and help for each other,basically I knew I was witnessing a bit of pure magic.And I loved it!

It kind of reminded me of when I'm at work and I sit in a room and observe children,after a while they forget that you are there and that's when you see the beauty of play and get a real grasp about the children involved.

making mud

sitting under a bridge..fun

The children were making the stream muddy that was their objective.So they needed things to stir the water up and they foraged around the top of the river bank to collect such items.

I saw such team work,here Chips is passing a plank to his friend.No adult telling them how to do it,just their own ideas and their ways of doing things.

It made me think of my own childhood and I have wrote these thoughts but the play was exceptionally good and a joy to watch.It got quite wild and some of the children went paddling in the water,Chips didn't,but he joined in with a great deal of splashing with the sticks and you can imagine how wet and wild things got!True messy play!

Eventually Chips and I said goodbye and went to the spot where I had intended,deep down by the river,a secret den like place,full of mud,trees,water and possibilities.This was the messy play I had originally wanted for Chips.

lets investigate

poking sticks in muddy water

messy hands

Chips had such a messy time!Yay!Thats what I wanted!

thinking about it

done it!

and again

Jumping across water.....a bit challenging but how good it is when you do it!!!

Climbing trees....surely every child should experience climbing trees!

We had a fab time and Chips experienced just what I wanted true messy outdoor play...bliss!

The end was quite eventful too...while negotiating a tree trunk Chips fell into the river! He emerged a bit shocked and very wet but nothing a warm bath couldn't put right and boy didn't he have a tale to tell!And isn't that just what the whole point of this take is....experiences for our kids....let's get them messy,let's teach them mess isn't that bad,infact sometimes it can be the most fun ever!

Linking to Jennie at Messy Play For Matilda Mae 

and   Fionas at Country Kids

Both these blogs have brilliant ideas to involve children in messy,fun play,Jennies activities are more indoor ones and Fionas are more outdoor activities ~ both are worth a look at.