Michael Follett specializes in children's play and is passionate about the importance of playing with mud. “It's very tactile,” he says. “You can use it as paint. You can mash it in a pot. You can make a mud bag. You can make cappuccinos!
As a former theater worker and founder and director of Opal Outdoor Play and Learning, which supports schools to improve play opportunities, Follett is an evangelist about the benefits of unstructured outdoor play.
“Access to green space and nature every day is critical to children's mental and physical health, and if the price is a little muddy, we should accept it.”
However, not everyone is so positive about mud. A primary school in North Devon with a brand new mud play area hit the headlines last week, after apologizing to parents and carers whose children got muddy after particularly heavy rain.
A mud play area, digging pit and mud cafe at Holsworthy Church of England Primary School are part of a recent refurbishment of the school's outdoor play area.
“We felt our kids needed something special at playtime and lunchtime,” said headteacher Amy Frost. “The playground [before] Ancient but they couldn't do anything. As schools we are too afraid to let our kids take risks. All risk is removed and it leads to children not learning what risk is and how to manage risk.
To change this, the school worked with a guide from Opal and designed different zones for caving, climbing and mud play. Children wear “active uniforms” – essentially a PE kit – that are waterproof and hosed to wash wells and mud when the weather is bad.
Frost said there were some comments from people who thought it was “hard to adjust,” but parents were overwhelmingly supportive. “My son is lying in the mud, but he's having fun!” A parent commented. Another said: “We want to do extra laundry and see them flourish.”
Follett argues that school uniforms are part of the problem. “They put these kids in ridiculous white socks, white shirts, cute little dresses, court shoes. We need to get Bear Grylls to design elementary school uniforms.
Fewer children are playing in the mud in England than ever before. Children today have less access to unstructured outdoor play than ever before. Their play time is more organized, it is less and their play spaces are more sanitized.
Helen Todd, professor of child psychology at the University of Exeter, said: “Children getting muddy is part of our risk aversion. We want to keep children safe and clean and tidy, and in doing so we prevent children from doing things that children naturally do.
Change is gradual, over generations. “But I think it has to do with a lot of sense: Is it dangerous? What could be in the mud? If they put their finger in their mouth, will they get worse? We gradually risked more and more what children could and could not do.
Todd thinks parenting books may have contributed. “There's an increasing sense that you can do parenting properly, that there's a right way and a wrong way, and with that, there's too much judgement. And obviously protecting your child is a good thing in a general sense. No one wants their child to get hurt.
Why is it important for children to play in mud? “When they're young, that's what they do,” Dodd says. “They'll walk through mud puddles, they'll jump in it, they'll splash, they'll want to get their hands in there, feel how the mud feels.
“If we want to give children a space to connect with nature and understand nature, they have to do it unhindered, and they can get muddy as a result.
“There's also research on the benefits of contact with mud in terms of the biology of what's in the mud and how it affects our immune system. In emotional matters too. Many children now have sensory disabilities. They don't like specific settings, they don't like the feeling of different things. Some of them may come from keeping it too clean.
Follett says children have never seen so much before, much less experienced it. “All their experiences are secondary, in bedrooms with screens closed or strapped into buggies with iPads in front of them.
“What they don't have is real primal experience, touching, feeling, handling. You know that feeling of squeezing a handful of mud? You're not going to get it playing Minecraft.
Tips for enjoying mud
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Start them young. If they haven't gotten their hands dirty or felt different textures before age three, they won't like it.
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It doesn't have to be a big trip to the woods, it could just be a small muddy patch in the back garden. Use cutlery, bowls and utensils for pretend cooking. Try clay painting.
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Wear appropriate clothing. If you are out in nature and dressed accordingly, you will embrace it more.
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As a parent or caregiver, if you don't feel comfortable playing in the mud, pretend you do. Your child will be guided by you.
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Be aware of where you allow your children to play. Do not play in areas known to contain animal feces.
