5 minute read
Connecting children with
CONNECTING CHILDREN WITH NATURE
Anja French, mum of three and founder of Mud & Bloom nature subscription boxes, speaks to Georgina Probert about the benefits of doing nature craft and gardening activities with your kids.
aunching in December 2017,
Lwhile she was pregnant with her third child, Mud & Bloom is the brainchild of Anja French from Bristol. The monthly seasonal subscription boxes are made with kids aged three to eight mind, with activities created by qualified teachers, and aim to foster a love of nature in children.
Anja explains: “We encourage respect for nature, but we also encourage children to get their hands dirty, to pick flowers and bring items home with them. We know that children learn and connect better when they engage all their senses. I definitely believe a connection with nature is essential if we want our children to grow up caring about, and willing to protect, the natural world.”
Mud & Bloom has sent out more than 200,000 boxes since it launched. The company has gone from strength to strength following 18 months of lockdowns, growing from a small family business run from the kitchen table to a studio space in central Bristol with a community of over 40 part-time staff and contributors.
WHAT WAS IT THAT INSPIRED YOU TO LAUNCH MUD & BLOOM?
We were living in London, I was working full time and I had a long commute, so the time I had with my two young sons was precious and I didn't have hours to spend preparing activities. I wanted to do fun things with my kids and was subscribing to craft boxes, which were great, as you could do an activity together without having to prepare anything. I was really surprised there was nothing out there that was connecting children to nature or that was eco friendly. So that gave me the idea to set up Mud & Bloom.
WHY DO YOU THINK CONNECTING WITH NATURE IS SO IMPORTANT FOR CHILDREN?
I feel that it's really important that children are connected to nature for all sorts of reasons: for their own mental health and, in the longer term, for them to protect the environment later in life.
If they've been brought up loving nature, they're more likely to care for it later on. I think there's more and more disconnect, especially in cities, of children knowing about nature and being out in nature. It's something I feel very passionate about.
CAN PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN A CITY AND DON'T HAVE A GARDEN STILL DO THE ACTIVITIES?
Yeah, absolutely. In each box, we provide planting activities and at least two nature craft activities.
These involve going out to a local park or just down your street and picking up conkers, acorns or leaves and twigs, and then bringing them home to do the activity. You don't have to have a garden or large outside space to be able to do them.
We encourage children to get their hands dirty
For the gardening activities, we provide peat-free organic compost pellets in each of our boxes and then we suggest that you use an egg carton or yoghurt pot to plant the seeds in. Eventually, you will need to plant these in a larger pot or in a garden, but the point is that children can still start the seedlings off – plus you can plant a lot of things on window sills or balconies.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO PARENTS WHO DON'T HAVE ANY GARDENING EXPERIENCE AND ARE HESITANT TO TRY THESE ACTIVITIES OUT WITH THEIR KIDS?
Parents don't need to be an expert in gardening and everything they need to get started growing and discovering nature with their children is included. It's a lot easier than people think. We provide simple instructions, including how to plant seeds, and how to water and look after your plants. We've also got a Facebook subscribers group, which is really active. People in the group who never gardened before have been saying that they can't believe that they’ve actually grown their own vegetables this year.
ARE THE BOXES DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE PARENTS AND KIDS TO SPEND TIME TOGETHER?
Yes they are. The boxes are aimed at children aged three to eight, which tend to need varying levels of supervision. We do have subscribers who are 12 or 13 years old, who are able to do the activities themselves, but they are mainly geared for whole families to do together.
Feedback from subscribers is that often parents set up the activities for their children and then they get on with gardening alongside them.
DO YOUR OWN KIDS HELP TO INFLUENCE THE CRAFTS AND ACTIVITIES INCLUDED IN EACH BOX?
My kids are three, seven and nine – our ideal target ages – so yes, I do ask for their input. We do all of the activities together and they tell me what they loved or if there's anything they didn't enjoy.
While my children's seal of approval is great, more importantly, many of the activities are made to complement the national curriculum and are put together by trained teachers, forest school teachers or Montessori teachers.
DO YOU THINK THAT THE LOCKDOWNS MADE PEOPLE APPRECIATE THE GREAT OUTDOORS MORE?
I think lots of people who never did gardening or nature crafts before began to appreciate what was on their doorstep in terms of nature. In the past, if you thought about getting a subscription box for your kid, it would probably be indoor crafts. We've got a lot more people now subscribing than before lockdown, who are really into their garden, planting things all the time and doing activities that they never did before.
I also think that many children havechanged because they've started to experience and enjoy simple things like playing in the garden or woods and using their imagination – and now they're more likely to want to do more of that.
Parents don't need to be an expert in gardening
Mud & Bloom's children's monthly subscription box delivers seasonal nature crafts, gardening, foraging and nature spotting activities to your door. Each box contains everything the busy parent needs for hours of fun with their children discovering and learning about plants, insects, birds, soil, the seasons and the weather. For more information, visit
