Pondering Playtime // Maisy’s Digger Gravel Tuff Spot

Welcome back to Pondering Playtime, my fortnightly series where I share a favourite picture book and a craft or play activity to go with it. This week, I’ve chosen Maisy’s Digger by Lucy Cousins* and set up this fun digger quarry tuff spot to go with it.

Maisy’s Digger – What’s the Story?

Maisy’s Digger is about Maisy the mouse and her love of her digger, which she uses to dig a pond in her back garden, with the help of her friends.

Maisy’s Digger – Digger Gravel Tuff Spot

For this activity, I put some sand into the tuff spot, then added some gravel that we had left over from some other gardening projects we’d been doing. Then I added a couple of digger toys that we were sent to review a couple of years ago, along with a spade, rake and sieve.

Then I left the girls to play!

You will need:

• Tuff spot (we used ours on a stand, but it would work equally well on the ground)
• Play sand
• Gravel/pebbles
• Toy diggers
• Beach spade/rake/sieve

If you’re in the UK, you can purchase what you’ll need, here:

If you’re in the USA, you can purchase what you’ll need, here:

Maisy’s Digger Gravel Tuff Spot – What the girls thought

B was desperate to start playing in this tuff spot, the moment I started setting it up. She absolutely loves anything vaguely dirt-related and is always getting her hands into the flowerbeds, so this was right up her street!

As soon as we were ready to play, M set about using the diggers to create tracks in the sand and make a mound of stones mixed with sand. She also experimented with sieving the mixture to separate the two. B mostly enjoyed scooping the stones and transporting them around the garden!

Half way through playing with the tuff spot, I brought out our library copy of Maisy’s Digger to photograph in the sand. Both girls immediately stopped playing so that we could read the story together, so it’s clearly a hit!

If you enjoyed this, you can find more Pondering Playtime activities here, and you might like to join my Early Years craft and activity Facebook group; Play Craft, Explore. We’d love to have you! And lastly, don’t forget to Pin it!

*Affiliate Link – I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.co.uk.