MAP / COMMUNITY SPACES / MUD KITCHEN
Richmond Community Garden Mud Kitchen
It’s time for you humans to get ‘down and dirty’: get your hands into the soil, that is! As a feathered animal, I - Huanui - love to peck among the soil and leaves for tasty bugs to eat. It seems you humans (pre-schoolers in particular) love to play in the dirt, too!
Connect with nature through mud
Here, at the Mud Kitchen at Richmond Community Garden, you have the chance to play…with and in the dirt! Research shows that gardening and playing with soil helps connect humans with nature, and that’s gotta be a good thing, right?
For children, mud play develops a sense of creativity, imagination and emotional well-being. It can also develop confidence and actually boost the immune system. Wow, that’s interesting, eh? Perhaps all humans should ‘get their hands dirty’.
Get stuck in!
Soil is home to billions of helpful organisms! Healthy soil underpins New Zealand’s agriculture, horticulture and forestry industries and helps grow animals (to eat and also milk). Apologies to all vegetarians! (Pīwakawaka are carnivores, I’m afraid. Insectivores, to be precise).
Go on: roll your sleeves up, take your shoes and socks off, and go and experience the dirt in our mud kitchen play area! What’s not to like about dirt?!! It stores carbon, recycles nutrients for plants and animals, filters and purifies our rivers and streams, and helps keep our natural surroundings healthy.
Oooooo, goody, I’ve just spotted a worm….