Muddy Maps

MOET & the British Orienteering Federation was successful in receiving a walking grant from Manchester Active. The funding was used to pilot an orienteering project with 3 & 4 year olds attending nurseries across Manchester. The evaluation of the pilot was really positive and we are looking at ways of rolling out the project with more nurseries.

Muddy Maps is a project aimed at children under 5’s that aims to increase their physical activity by walking, playing and learning important life skills through the exploration of parks and green spaces. 

The project was designed and developed by Manchester Outdoor Education Trust (MOET) and the British Orienteering Federation (BOF) in response to the growing evidence that young children are walking less and not developing those important life skills of being able to navigate and observe their surroundings. 

Three nursery settings in the North, East and South of the city and a primary Specialist School in Wythenshawe volunteered to pilot the project in local parks. Groups of children and staff walked to the local park and were supported by staff and volunteers from BOF and MOET to participate in several activities that took them on a walk around their local park. 

The project was funded through a Walking Grant from Manchester Active and MOET’s own funding.

The feedback from the three nurseries and Special School was very positive. The staff were all impressed by how far the children walked and their level of engagement in the activities and the introduction of new vocabulary. Most of the children were able to describe features in the park and locate them on a map. The feedback from the children was also positive, they enjoyed the session, they enjoyed being outside and independently exploring the park. 

The pilot highlighted the need to support, enable and enable the under 5’s workforce to increase the time that children spend walking and exploring parks and green spaces. Staff from the three nurseries are going to co-present the findings from the pilot at the area professional networks and we have produced a tips and ideas sheet to support and encourage under 5 practitioners to lead walks. 

In the future we would like to offer more sessions to under 5 settings in the most underserved communities. We also have plans to work with the parks about how to encourage parents to take their children to the park for a walk and to work with the Local Offer Team to encourage parents and carers of SEND Children to walk in parks and green spaces.