Mud & Bloom Review

• A seasonal art and craft or three in each box
• A fruit, veg or herb to sow
• A flower to sow
• Beautifully illustrated Information cards with season-relevant information and quizzes.
• Inspiration to get the family outdoors

The appealing illustrations make the Mud & Bloom activity cards worth collecting and saving for next year. Appearance may not sound like an important factor, but I’ve had other subscription boxes with fancy swirly fonts on poorly printed paper, with low-quality images, and the poor printing made it impossible to read half the instructions and/or enjoy the activities. So, appearance really does matter, and Mud & Bloom have the visuals spot on!

Each box is well-packaged. The boxes are about A5 size and small enough to fit through your average letterbox so you don’t need to be home to get your parcel. There is the odd occasion when Mud & Bloom will send an extra-large box, but that doesn’t happen often.

All the resources for the crafts are high-quality; many are reusable. We love our branded whittling tool, and some of the items we received around Christmas are packed away ready to be used again. You never have to buy anything in addition to complete the nature crafts, but you may need to collect some bits from nature! It’s a lovely way to inspire the family to get outdoors all year-round. The “Nature News” and season spotter are great for an outdoor nature hunt.

The seed packets have PLENTY of seeds. Again, with another subscription, we received a seed pack containing only about 5 seeds. I really don’t think that is enough. Especially when you think about how much parents pay for subscriptions. Plus, with children experimenting in the garden, you’ll lose some to low germination rates, then to weather, other growing issues, and garden pests, meaning you’ll end up with one plant OR none. 5 seeds really doesn’t cut it. But with Mud & Bloom, they send PLENTY of seeds, so I have been able to save some seeds for succession sowing or even next growing season.

In fact we are so excited to try my 5-year-old’s Zuckertraube Tomatoes, which will be yielding fruit very soon! And we have spare seeds for the next year or two! Yummy!

All of the seeds we have received from Mud & Bloom are certified organic and biodynamic. They also provide organic peat-free compost pellets included in each box so you can get planting straight away! And lots of the packaging and items are recyclable or can be repurposed.

• We follow a nature curriculum, and since these boxes are seasonal, they often align well with other lesson plans. In fact, I’d say there is enough in the box to build on and create lessons for the whole week.
• There is a lot to plan when home educating, so Mud & Bloom Boxes help take that pressure off. For me, any time-saving resources are always a win. If you haven’t had time to prepare or need a brain break, these boxes make a great “grab and go” activity. There’s so much to adore: each delivery is an invitation to pause, delight in nature’s marvels, and share joyful moments together.
• Their Blog is fabulous – they share plenty of seasonal ideas that are easy to try at home.
• Each box has had a fabulous craft that I may have never have thought of, but quite a few of the secondary and third activities in the box have seemed a bit samey (especially all the pressed flowers crafts! This also means you can’t do some crafts straight away as you need to flatten your leaves or flowers etc).

I do think the sowing directions for fruit, veg and herbs could be better. There has been the occasional card where I have found that the instructions for growing have not been super clear. But this is easily remedied with a quick internet search, as most seed suppliers will have instructions online.

• Flexible Subscription prices are available depending on your family size. I think the Craft and Gardening Box is the best value for money; however, a gardening-only box is also available. In their shops, you can also purchase craft items, folders, and gardening tools, but I do feel they are overpriced.
• Financial Commitment – You can purchase a one-off past box, but you will get it a month behind. And although Mud & Bloom offers various subscriptions at different prices, I do think its boxes are quite expensive. If you have two kids and choose to order a sibling box, that’s just over £275 for a 12-month subscription and more if you pay-as-you-go. Obviously, cost is relative: for a handful, they won’t even notice the cash leaving the bank account, but for the average parent, it might be a big barrier.

And the truth is, with all of these things, you can easily put these activities together yourself. I mean, a quick scroll through Instagram or Pinterest for ideas, there are websites where you can get a pack of seeds for 42p, then pop into the craft store to grab some bits, or use free natural resources, and hey presto, these wonderful explorations don’t have to cost the equivalent of a gym membership or monthly tutor. But it does cost you time, and Mud & Bloom do take away the research, hard work and shopping trips to Hobbycraft for you.