Two Muddy Boots

24/08/2026

Lovely last summer woodland sessions today - the children did tie dyeing, looked for froglets in the (currently mostly dry) stream, and a couple even made a dinosaur museum, and they ate campfire quesadillas.

This Wednesday is the last summer session at Sherwood Farm near Horsham where there are also a few spaces left. 10am - noon or 2pm. Ages 4 and upwards. Experience and help with pigs, donkeys, ponies, sheep, ducks, rabbits and guinea pigs. Tickets at our booking site www.bookwhen.com/twomuddyboots

23/08/2026

We have a few spaces left on our last Summer Family Session on Monday 24th September at our woodland site in Balcombe.

Woodland play and craft, suitable for families with children aged 2ish to 12 ish. 10am -12.30pm.

Tickets available at www.bookwhen.com/twomuddyboots

14/08/2026

Booking now open for our September - October weekly toddler sessions on Monday mornings at our woodland site in Balcombe. Ticket link and more information at our website

Every week there will be a range of activities that the children can enjoy from natural crafts, rope swings, camp fire to our lovely mud kitchen and water play.

06/07/2026

Our Sherwood Farm group this week, Wednesday 8th July, will only run in the morning, 10 - midday, because of the hot weather. No afternoon session.

01/06/2026

Flower crowns all round today. 🌺🌺👑👑

27/05/2026

Tickets are available to book now for our Monday tots group in the woods near Balcombe, for June and July. See our website for details and booking link. www.twomuddyboots.co.uk

20/05/2026

We've got spaces available on our Family Session in the woods on bank holiday Monday 25th May. Please see our website for more info and booking link www.twomuddyboots.co.uk/family-days suitable for children aged 2-12

Woodland Days 2017 ​ We have the following dates available: ​ 26, 27, 28 July ​ 31 July, 1, 2, 3, 4 August ​ 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 August ​

16/05/2026

May Half Term - in addition to a Family Session in our woods in Balcombe on the Monday 25th, we now also will be running an extra Farm session at Sherwood Farm on Weds 27th. Tickets at www.bookwhen.com/twomuddyboots

07/04/2026

Tickets now available for April and May Monday term time morning toddler group in the woods at Balcombe; Wednesday mornings home ed group at Sherwood Farm nr Horsham, and also a couple of Wednesdays in the woods.

Two spaces also remain for our Family Session in the woods tomorrow, 8th April.

See our website for full details and booking link www.twomuddyboots.co.uk

22/03/2026

“But how will they learn to write if they play outside all day?”

Our pre-schoolers enjoyed using the hammer, nails and elastic bands today in our tool area. As well as the huge social and emotional benefits of undertaking tool work with “real” tools (self esteem; confidence; safety awareness; building trust with adults and in oneself), this task contained huge benefits for the development of pre writing skills.

These included:

🔨 Hand & finger strengthening - using the appropriate force and dexterity to manipulate the nails, hammer and wood to achieve the desired result. Stretching the elastic bands requires stretching rather than squeezing, developing strength in the opposite direction.

🔨 Hand eye coordination - focussing on hitting the nail instead of your fingers!

🔨 Bilateral integration - using both hands together doing different things to achieve a task (holding the wood or nail with one hand, whilst controlling the hammer with the other; holding the block in place with one hand, whilst stretching the bands over the nails with the other).

🔨 Upper body strength - these were chunky nails, and strong strikes were required to drive them into the wood.

🔨 Object manipulation - using the hammer in a controlled manner - no wild swings here!

🔨 Hand dominance - establishing which is our “hammer hand” (sometimes through swapping hands part way through if the child or adult notices that things look awkward or weak).

🔨 Hand division - using index and middle fingers & thumb to hold the nail in place, while the other fingers are tucked into the palm to stabilise the hand. (We do this without even thinking about it as adults… but we learned it once upon a time!)

So whilst it may not look like “early literacy” as we know it, the skills practised in the tool area today are all vital in the development of pencil grip and writing readiness.