Play Post - The Mud Café
This week: Visit the quiet café beneath the water
In November, the pond turns into the kind of water you walk past without really seeing it. It looks still, almost dull if I’m honest. But underneath that surface, something is happening: the frogs are settling into the mud for winter.
In my mind they always say goodbye first, a little farewell gathering before they disappear. The café closes for the season, the last guests sink into their beds, and the door falls shut somewhere deep below the waterline.
Mud pies, sleepy hugs, a final check of tiny beds and mud duvets. I’ve always loved that thought — that a place that looks so grey can hold a whole little world underneath.
So this week, let’s stop at the water’s edge for a moment and see what we can notice.
Illustration and coloring page by @annoukdraws
This Week’s Idea: Visit the quiet café beneath the water
You’ll need:
Rain boots or wellies
A short walk to the nearest pond or ditch
Warm clothes and a bit of imagination
Optional: the Mud Café colouring page (this week’s free download!)
How to Begin
Take a small walk and stop by the nearest bit of water.
Look at what the surface is doing today: the way raindrops make circles, how leaves drift past, how the light changes the colour of the water.
And then: Turn on your imagination. If everything is quiet below, who do you think is resting there? What kind of place do you picture it to be? Don’t overthink it — just follow the first thought that pops up.
When you get home, colour the Mud Café together. Add whatever you imagined at the water’s edge — the sleepy guests, the little beds, the quiet corners. There are no rules here. Just your story.
Extra Magic: Go once on a grey day and once when the sun returns.
The water tells a different story each time.
Fun Facts to Share during your walk
🐸 Frogs don’t sleep in winter like we do — they slow everything down and slip into the mud where the temperature stays steady.
🌿 Many water insects hide for winter too — diving beetles, water boatmen and even tiny snails cling to stems below the surface.
💧 Raindrops always land differently depending on how still the pond is — calm water makes perfect circles, windy water breaks them into little waves.
If you try it, let me know what you noticed — the ripples, the colours, or the story you made up on the walk home.
Want to remember this later? Print it. Tape it to the fridge.
If you’re using the Keepsake Journal, you can add a drawing of the water, the patterns you saw, or one line about what you imagined underneath.
We’ll be back next Friday.
What is Play Post?
Every Friday, you’ll find one simple idea in your inbox — something to try outdoors, with your child or just with yourself.
Something you can make, discover, feel, or simply notice. It won’t take much. But it might stay with you longer than you’d expect.
A tiny ritual of connection — to the season, to your child, to yourself.