Recently we have been testing out the Mud + Bloom gardening and nature subscription boxes. Read on for my honest mud and bloom box review. I love finding new outdoor activities for children and these boxes are fantastic. They’re perfect for getting kids outdoors and connecting them with nature whilst they are having loads of fun. My kids love nature crafts and helping in the garden so I knew they would love these boxes.
AD – we have worked with Mud + Bloom a couple of times and have been sent boxes in exchange for sharing on Instagram. I was not asked to write this blog post. All thoughts, photos and opinions are my own.
Scroll down for my discount code!
Mud + Bloom boxes are aimed at children 3 to 8. They combine gardening and nature with crafts. As you know we love getting outdoors and also crafts so it was an easy decision when we were asked if we would like to test out the box.
I’ve been trying the most recent box with my girls who are 5 and almost 9. It’s fair to say we have loved this box. My eldest loves crafts and helping in the garden so although she is the top end of the box age recommendations, I still feel she will enjoy the boxes in even 12 months’ time.
The boxes arrive at the beginning of each month with everything you need for 4 seasonal nature craft and gardening activities. The box contains a number of colourful cards with full step by step details of the activities, a monthly nature news section and quiz and a spotting sheet.
I love that these boxes are fun and educational for young children. They help them learn about nature and support seasonal living. I love to do activities with my kids that are based on the current season and you know how much I love seasonal books (find my spring children’s books here).
It’s perfect for parents that don’t have time to search for ideas for activities but want to do activities that help kids engage with nature. Everything you need (apart from things from nature like twigs and pebbles) are included in the monthly box which fits through your letterbox.
You can also relax knowing that all of the activities support the National curriculum as they are created by qualified teachers with influence from forest school, Steiner and Montessori education.
We have been testing the sibling’s box which is ideal for 2 children and includes 2 of all the craft supplies and seeds as well as spotters sheets and quizzes. There is enough for two children and it helps stop any squabbles!
The seeds are certified organic and biodynamic wherever possible and there are always plenty in a packet. They also provide organic peat-free compost pellets in each box. I love this as it means you can get started straight away. My children thought the way the compost pellets swell up with water was magical.
The box fits through letterboxes easily too so no need to worry about having to go collect it from the post office if you’re out when the post comes.
How much do they cost?
I know you are probably wondering how much it costs. You can pay monthly or to save some money you can pay for a 3 or 6 month subscription. The cost covers all supplies and postage.
An individual child box costs £13.95 if paid monthly and a siblings box with enough for two children is £16.95
Our verdict
I’m passionate about getting kids outdoors and into nature. I love that these kits are an easy way to get ideas for nature crafts to do each month as well as seeds to grow and a little bit of information about nature this month.
The developers of these kits clearly share my passion for getting kids outdoors, learning about nature and the changing seasons through fun activities. The boxes make it easy for parents to provide these kinds of activities for their children in a fun and engaging way.
My children absolutely loved doing the activities in our March 2022 box. Don’t believe me? Read on to find out what activities were in the box and what my children created. I’ve also left some photos at the end from previous boxes from several years ago so you can see more of the variety of nature activities and more.
What was in the March 2022 box
The box contained everything we needed and full instructions for the following activities:
- Clay tree faces
- Make a mini spring nature garden
- Make a twig-covered plany pot
- Seeds to grow broccoli
- Cornflower seeds and peat-free compost pellets
- Spring flower spotters sheet
- March nature news and quiz
Without a doubt, my girls adored creating their own mini spring gardens using the adorable wooden mushrooms and tiny bunting. They spent ages carefully arranging and decorating their mini gardens. The suggestion from the box was to create a garden in a small tray but we decide to use two planters and we sprinkled some of the cornflower seeds in too so we are hoping there’ll be added interest in the summer too.
They also had great fun creating the clay mud faces on our garden fence posts. Again we adapted the activity which was supported to be on a tree. We don’t have any trees in our garden and we liked the idea of enjoying looking at their finished creation for a while so chose to create them on fence posts.
We also enjoyed the flower spotter sheets on a walk (I’m always looking for things to do on a walk with kids) and the nature news and quiz at home. We still need to make the stick covered planters next weekend. There are loads of twigs here after all the storms last month!
Convinced? Order your box here.
Previous Mud & Bloom boxes we tested
Please note these were boxes we tested out in 2018. The boxes have changed and developed a bit since then.
This was the first box we received several years ago. The activities included were – making a twig boat, growing some sprouting seeds and beans, growing an avocado tree and spotting some January birds.
As well as the cards with instructions the box contained some PVA glue, some organic seeds, a piece of muslin, a piece of fabric, some coloured embroidery thread and some cocktail sticks.
This box contained a set of acrylic paints and a brush, two packets of seeds, mud pellets and the activity cards. The acrylic paints were for painting pebbles.
Mud and bloom discount code
Use Ladybirds15 for 15% off!
Where to next?
- Find more things to do outside with kids here.
- Fins some Forest school activities for 2 year olds here. They’re perfect for families to do in the garden or on a family trip to the woods
- If your children are passed the toddler phase then you need this post – Fun forest school activities that can be done at home.
Our Mud & Bloom box was brilliant. We now know what the birds are called that we spot. We had no luck with our Avacado tree either. But it was alot of fun trying.
It’s having fun trying that counts.
Thanks for the link. They really are fab huh. We have had to unsubscribe temporarily due to other commitments but will definitely resume these in the not too distant future.