Mari Dyson of Eden Play recalls the sheer enjoyment of digging...for the sake of digging!

When was the last time you dug a hole? Not to plant something, or to move something, but just for the sheer enjoyment of digging? Marvelling at the ever-growing pile of earth at the side as the hole got deeper and wider? Watching bits of it slip back down into the hole, and hoiking them back out before they slid right down and ruined your hard work? Like me, you probably can’t remember, it was that long ago.

 When we were young children, Dad would set us digging challenges. “Dig the deepest hole you can. You’ve got half an hour. On your marks, get set, go!” The implements provided to us probably wouldn’t pass today’s health and safety standards of what is considered appropriate for a young child to wield, as the picture of my brother with a pickaxe testifies! Technically he’d have been better off with a mattock, but at that age, we didn’t know the difference, and more importantly, we never thought to question why we were digging holes in the first place – it was just fun! It didn’t need to serve a purpose. When you’re young, it doesn’t, does it? It’s all about what you get out of the experience, and we got plenty from it. We felt involved with what Dad was doing in the garden, and we got muddy. Very, very muddy! The other benefits passed us by, but it’s easy to see now how such activity helps on so many levels – teamwork, coordination, upper body strength development and so much more. We all know that if children designed their own play spaces, they wouldn’t be crammed with brightly coloured metal climbing frames, they’d be full of the things nature provides, and specifically anything that involves getting mucky! Giving young children the chance to dig away to their heart’s content will give them endless pleasure. Shifting piles of earth from one area to another will not only help to develop their hand/eye coordination but also their understanding of capacity, movement and space. All you need is a small area set aside with earth and some suitable digging implements (pickaxes best left in the 1970s!). At Eden Play, we provide covered planters for exactly this purpose - helping to keep the digging area contained and easy to manage.  So this week, come rain or shine, why don’t you make a point of getting out in your outdoor play space, and giving the children in your care the chance to dig? Just dig. Nothing more complicated than that. And whilst you’re at it…join in, and remember a less complicated time, when you did things just for the sheer enjoyment they gave you. I guarantee you’ll smile all day.