Messy, dirty little children = happy little children!!!

We were in the park one day last week; Albie was playing in the trees with A hunting for the Gruffalo (their favourite park pastime), J was playing on the climbing frame, and I was sat with M in the sandpit digging in the sand with our hands as I had forgotten to pack spades.  It was a lovely afternoon, the sun was shining, our tummies were full from the picnic we had eaten, and everyone was happy.


We had been at the park a few hours when another family arrived, there was a boy that I would guess was aged approximately 3 years old with his Mum.  The boy ran straight over to M and myself sat in the sand, he watched us for a few seconds and then he too began to dig with his hands.  At this, his Mum came over and shouted at him to not touch the sand as it was "dirty".  I was a little perplexed at this, but said nothing.  The little boy returned to the sand another 2 times, only for his Mum to pull him away from the sand each time.  Eventually Mum shouted at the boy "do not go near that sand again, we have not come to the park to get dirty!"


The boy didn't come back to the sand.  The boy and his Mum left the park after about 10 minutes.


We eventually left the park some time later; the four children and myself all had dirty fingernails, grubby hands, mud and sand on our clothes, and the children all had slightly grubby faces too (I like to think my face was at least clean!)


We had a lovely day, exploring our surroundings, finding "treasure" (feathers, twigs, conkers, walnuts, leaves and dandelions), playing with our friends, playing on the play equipment, and learning lots of things in the process too!


I am so glad that the parents of the children I look after are happy for their children to get dirty and messy.  Here are a few photos of the children doing what they do best....