Where education is an adventure!
Come Play With Us!

Muddy Kids provides safe supervised spaces for children to play as children should, making up their own games, exploring nature on their own terms, being device free with minimal adult direction.

One Day Forest School Programmes
Play Activations
Holiday Programmes
Overnight camps
Teen Programmes

Play is necessary! It gives children a chance to express themselves without direction from adults. Play is not only a fundamental right of children, it is vital for emotional, physical and social growth and development.

Independence! Having the autonomy to plan their day, their play gives children responsibility and independence. Being out in nature offers unlimited opportunities to provoke curiosity and stoke imagination.

Trust is key! – Our educators work hard to understand our kids and meet them where they are. With low ratios (1:8) we really get to know each child and foster their best self.

Always outside! With the proper gear, the weather is just another friend offering opportunities to learn and explore. We get to know and love nature intimately.

“Perhaps play would be more respected if we called it something like “self-motivated practice of life skills, “ but that would remove the light-heartedness from it and thereby reduce its effectiveness.

So we are stuck with the paradox. We must accept play’s triviality in order to realize its profundity.“

Peter Gray – Free to Learn
Children playing in the sand, forest school.

One Day Programme

Weekly outdoor freeplay based in Riverhead, Long Bay and Lake Pupuke (Takapuna/Milford)

Find out more

Children talking and bonding outside in front of a campfire at an overnight camp

Muddy Camps

Sleepover freeplay experiences with day stay options.

Find out more

Holiday Play Days

Freeplay days on school holidays at Long Bay Regional Park

Find out more

1 day ago

Muddy Kids NZ
Real life learning includes everything that goes on within our environment 💚Today as we were setting up for our morning meeting and making our plans for our adventure, we were approached by the Air Force to let us know that they were going to be some military drills at the beach and seven parachutes were about to land on the beach! The children were very excited to witness this and we got our ourselves organised and ready to go and waited at the beach. I think one of my favourite comments from our children watching as the parachutes made it safely to the beach was 'Man I want to do that one day that looks amazing.'When we go outside our educational opportunities are everywhere 💚 ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook

3 days ago

Muddy Kids NZ
ShakeOut Day at Muddy KidsAt Muddy Kids, we are always learning about earthquakes, tsunamis and the natural world around us. Today, on New Zealand ShakeOut Day, we are reminded just how important that learning is.Being connected to our natural environment and experiencing the weather firsthand provides opportunities for real learning, real consequences and an authentic understanding of the world we live in.Like any education service working with children, we regularly practise our earthquake and tsunami drills.Our children know the natural warning signs of a tsunami, understand what to do if an earthquake occurs and know how to respond in an emergency.One of the beautiful things about Muddy Kids is that we have the time and space to explore these conversations in depth.Our trusted relationships and familiar environments allow children to ask questions, develop confidence and take an active role in understanding their own safety and the safety of those around them.We don’t want children to be frightened of the natural world. We want them to understand it, respect it and recognise how to respond when things don’t go to plan.Being prepared for natural disasters, unexpected weather events and accidents is simply part of being an outdoor educator.And giving children the knowledge, confidence and practical experience to respond is another valuable part of their education.Real environments. Real experiences. Real learning.#natureplay #nationalshakeout #shakeout #reallifelearning ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
Outdoor view of Long Bay Regional Park, North Shore, Auckland.

Interested? Join us outside!

Come play with us!