Digging with children

Have you thought about how you’ll get through those long summer holidays? Do you have a patch of ground outside your back door, even if it’s just a patio?

Yes? Then I have the answer: digging.

All you need is a spade (or a shovel, sand and a tuff spot if your space is completely paved).

Dig to the centre of the earth, look for minibeasts, enjoy the rhythm of removing spade after spade of material. Add water, leaves or sand. Bring figures and the dump truck from the toy box.

A whole summer’s worth of fun.

So much of your child’s play is about investigation and few activities are more essentially investigative than digging. Taking a spade to the earth and seeing what you can find is one of the simplest and yet most exciting exercises your child can engage in. Are there worms? What colour is the soil? What can we make with the earth? What can we put in the hole we’ve just dug?

What projects will your child start? And where might they lead?