Collaborative post
Getting kids outdoors engaging in creative play and stimulating activities is what we all want to achieve to promote their physical, emotional and mental development, so creating a mega-fun mud kitchen in your garden is a surefire way to guarantee all of that.
The beauty of a mud kitchen is its adaptability to your own requirements and preferences; the space you have available and your preferred budget. You can make your outdoor kitchen as simple or elaborate as you wish.
Options include purchasing a ready-made unit or embarking on a DIY project to create your own bespoke mud kitchen masterpiece, perhaps by repurposing and recycling materials you already have combined with some customised timber cut to the right size for your space.
Whichever mud kitchen approach you choose, the ultimate outcome will be endless hours of merry, mucky fun for your children and their friends.
Deciding on Your Kitchen
First of all, you need to decide on whether you are building or buying. This will depend on personal preferences and skills, time and budget. If you’re short of time and want to get that kitchen out there speedily, there are ready-made options available ranging from around £50 for a simple bench and sink to over £500 for larger deluxe models, or you might be able to find a preloved one out there for less.
However, if you do have the time or inclination to build your own, you then have the freedom and flexibility to create and customise your kitchen to be exactly what you and your children want and can design it to fit perfectly into the space you have available in your garden.
Using new pieces of timber where you can be assured the edges will be planed and smooth will ensure you have a safe and splinter-free surface for your little mud-chefs’ hands to work and play at. A trusted timber company such as Emery’s Timber Supplier would be able to advise and provide the perfect planks and panels for your needs. You could use new timber for the whole project – there are plentiful DIY mud-kitchen videos online to guide you through the entire process – or you could combine some new materials with recycled pieces. Fitting pre-used small cupboards or bedside tables underneath a new work surface is a perfect merger of old and new and provides storage for all the pots, pans and plates. Pallets can make great shelves and backings for mud kitchens and provide a place to attach hooks to hang utensils.
Stocking Your Kitchen
You can kit out your mud kitchen in a fun-filled and budget-friendly way. Children will love getting involved in selecting items for their kitchen, but you can guarantee they’ll have a ball with only an old wooden spoon and a spare pot, those mini imaginations can whip up the perfect recipe for fun with the most basic ingredients. If you have any spare or old kitchen items you can contribute to their kitchen that’s the best place to start, or if not then have a rummage around charity shops and car boot sales or maybe even ask a local café or restaurant if they have any items going spare they might like to donate to help out your future muddy Michelin star chef.
Mud Kitchen Must-Haves
- Old pots and pans
- Mixing bowls
- Wooden spoons
- Plastic funnel
- Calpol syringes for squirting water
Some Added Extras
These are not essential, but can add a bit more scope and generate new activities and role play inspiration
- Outdoor aprons
- Colourful watering cans
- Plastic jars with lids to store ingredients such as acorns or conkers
- Refillable water container with a tap
- Mini chalk board for menus or ingredient lists – to encourage practising writing and drawing
- Flower pots
Natural Materials
Nature’s larder has plentiful supplies to stock your mud kitchen larder. Children will automatically forage for these materials around the garden or collect them when out on walks but you might want to gather some in advance to initiate and inspire.
- Sticks for mixing
- Conkers
- Stones
- Pinecones
- Leaves
- Seeds
- Twigs
- Flowers
Real Kitchen Ingredients
You and your children can decide if you want to introduce some actual foodstuffs to the outdoor play but do be mindful of not leaving food exposed outside when the mud kitchen has shut up shop for the day.
- Pasta shapes
- Red lentils
- Cinnamon sticks
- Bicarbonate of soda (for fizzing potions)
- Spices or food colouring to add colour to potions
Making Muddy Memories
Mud kitchens encourage children to spend time outdoors in a fabulous form of messy play that allows them to connect with nature and ignite an interest in gardening while inspiring them to use their imagination. Whether you build your own bespoke mud kitchen or buy a readymade one you will relish every moment of seeing your little ones have the most fantastic outdoor fun as they make lasting memories along with the mud pies.