Our outdoor kitchen has been a big success. Our garden isn’t huge but the children love to be outside so we’ve given them several areas where they can play, explore nature and grow things.
I think I enjoyed putting the mud kitchen together just as much as my children enjoy spending time with it. Today I’m sharing some of the mud kitchen essential items which we use the most.
7 mud kitchen essentials
1 A mud kitchen can be as simple or complicated as you like. Before we built our mud kitchen from old pallets the children were happy to play with buckets of water and old saucepans for their messy outdoor play. Our mud kitchen is simple and gives them a clearly defined space to play in the garden. Some shade is handy on a hot day and easy access to a source of water and soil is useful.
2 I think after a clearly defined space, a washing up bowl is the most essential item for a mud kitchen. Does mummy do the washing up? Then your child will probably want to copy you! I often find my children mirror what they see me do, indoors and outside. Plus, a washing bowl reinforces the idea that tidying up comes after the fun!
3 Measuring cups and spare baking equipment are useful if your children love to bake. A recipe for mud cakes can be as straightforward as soil, small stones and water so make sure to give them a spare mixing bowl and spoon too.
4 A pestle and mortar is a great way for children to explore textures and experiment with nature. You can collect items when you’re out and about to bring back. Crushed acorn shells? Pounded dandelion soup? Leaf stew?
5 Essential items don’t have to be expensive. We equipped our mud kitchen with old jugs, whisks, sieve and wooden spoons. Basically use any spare kitchen equipment or purchase an extra ‘value’ set from your local home store.
6 Raid the recycling box for empty bottles and containers – perfect for whipping up your favourite Skinny Flat White.
7 We added a chalkboard for the menu as a bit of an afterthought but its been popular with my kids. The spelling may not always be perfect but it means your kitchen can be a shop, takeaway and so much more than a kitchen.
What would your essential item be?
You might enjoy some of our other posts about our Mud Kitchen:
making mud cakes in the mud kitchen
George’s Marvellous Medicine mud kitchen activity
Linking up with Craft Schooling Sunday
Great fun for little people, at almost no cost involved. When my younger one was in Reception, they had a big tray table for mud play and kids had to wear aprons and wellies.