Here comes the crane!

On the morning of our crane delivery, all eyes were on the lane. How big would the crane be? How much sand and bark would we have delivered? The adults were a little concerned about how exactly the crane would manage to deliver our bark and sand over a tall brick wall and then our new wooden fence. Could it be done? There was only one way to find out!

Soon someone spotted the truck heading down the lane. The driver prepared the vehicle for lifting and then the time had arrived. The children rushed outside and stood patiently as the first bag of bark was hoisted up high into the air and then down into the garden. The bag was split and some of the adults quickly raked the bark flat in preparation for the next. Before we knew it, the bark was over the fence and had been spread level, creating a beautiful new mud kitchen area. Now it was time to place the 300 bags of sand into the sand pit. The children moved closer (but still observed from a safe distance) so they could watch the arm of the crane move the sand bags much further into the garden. The children (and adults) were mesmerised. Once all the sand was delivered, the children spoke to the driver about the crane and he kindly showed everyone how it works.

A cup of mud tea anyone?

Once our bark was laid, it was time to start putting our mud kitchen in place. We set out our two mud kitchens with a mud and sand area for mixing, placed our tree table and seat stumps in position and we were ready to go!

Our minibeast home is now proudly displayed in our mud kitchen are and we are looking forward to observing lots of creatures in the future. We have also added some pallets to create a stage area for lots of imaginative performances. Anyone for a cup of mud tea or maybe a mud pie?

The Big Garden Project - The Beginning

The children decided they wanted a huge beach area where they could dig for treasure and build sandcastles. They also wanted water inside the sand area, just like the beaches they had visited with their families but currently in the garden the water and sand were at different ends of the garden. We needed a plan!

We decided to create the most amazing sand area that could fit lots of children inside and also allow for water and sand to be played with together. This was a very optimistic goal but with everyone on board we knew it was achievable. The first job was to fill up the old sand pit and level it.

After purchasing some new wheelbarrows and tools for the job, we were off to a great start. The children and staff worked together to fill in the old sand pit. This took several days and the weather was not helpful but everyone persevered, excited by the end goal. Some children helped to fill whilst others enjoyed levelling the earth with rakes. Whichever job was chosen, this was completed as a collective, allowing the children to take full control and ownership of their space. Now that the sand pit was full, we really needed to think about how we would fill the new sand pit. The children observed the adults line the sand pit with what seemed like miles and miles of liner and then the exciting part arrived……. the crane!