Want your kids to be as happy as pigs in mud? Build a mud kitchen and encourage them to make as many mud pies as their hearts desire. No, I’m not joking!
Yes, mud kitchens are a thing and parents (and kids) swear by them. There’s nothing particularly special about them; they’re just an old table, an old bucket, perhaps a wonky construction put together with recycled fence palings….basically a make-do play kitchen that sits in the backyard, begging the kids to come and play. And they do! If you want to encourage your kids to spend more time outdoors and you’re keen to nurture their creativity, a mud kitchen is the answer.
Mud kitchens are an essential element in a Steiner/Waldorf play environment. Meagan Wilson, mother of four, Steiner educator and owner of Whole Family Rhythms, says these simple constructs are a perfect example of nature-inspired creative learning. “Creative play in nature is grounding, soothes the senses and calms our nervous system. Children love to play by imitating the world around them; in a mud kitchen children are making ‘real’ recipes and enjoying the creative and imaginative process,” she says.
Meagan admits that what she loves most about her mud kitchen is that it provides hours of outdoor entertainment for her children. Indeed, giving our kids permission to get dirty gives them the freedom to play uninhibited – and happily!
So what do you need to make your own? There are plenty of inspiring ideas on Pinterest – of course! – but before you get carried away with grand plans that may take months to come to fruition, start simply.
Meagan suggests finding a simple wooden base (even a table on council pick-up day will do!). And then? Mud and sand! A watering can is helpful for children to pour and make things really muddy and stainless steel cups and coffee pots can be found at local op shops and are just perfect for muddy tea parties. Take a look through the gallery and be inspired to build a mud kitchen that suits your home and kids.
Mud kitchens really do set the scene for hours of entertainment. When it’s time to call your kids inside for lunch, take off the muddy clothes at the back door, wash their hands well, fill their bellies and then…time for a nice, long afternoon nap.
Mud Kitchens - AU
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Add a blackboard
This blackboard marvel is by Adventures at Home with Mum. It’s made entirely of recycled materials and just made to get messy . The pots and pans are hung on nails above the sink area and there is plenty of room for buckets and storage.
Image: Adventures at Home with Mum
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Dining table to kitchen
The clever Angela from Finlee and Me repurposed an old dining table into a wonderful kitchen. With built-in sinks and a place to hang all the utensils, it looks terrific and was easy to do (full instructions on the blog).
Image: Finlee and Me
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Plastic fantastic
Just because you’re housing your mud kitchen outside, doesn’t mean you have to use ‘all natural’ materials. Plastic tubs are a cheap and practical addition to a play space, as proved by this charming mud kitchen at Let the Children Play.
Image: Let the Children Play
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Bring the indoors out
The Artful Parent always creates amazing creative spaces for her kids, and her mud kitchen is no exception. A simple, repurposed wooden play kitchen feels right at home in the backyard.
Image: The Artful Parent
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Set it up in the sand pit
Set up your mud kitchen in the kids’ sandpit and extend the play space. This set up at This Pilgrim Life would be irresistible for any kid. A table and chairs for dining on mud food, a mud ‘garden’ for growing fake flowers and a pool for a large water supply are all spot on.
Image: This Pilgrim Life
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Small spaces welcome
You don’t need a giant backyard to accommodate a mud kitchen. Childhood 101 featured this compact kitchen, set up on an apartment balcony. A mud kitchen is actually ideal for creating a small play space with big impact.
Image: Childhood 101
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Repurpose what you have
A couple of wooden crates and a repurposed dresser are pulled together with a lick of white paint to create this fun play space at Tinkerlab. Do you have any old furniture you no longer need in the house to recycle into a mud kitchen?
Image: Tinkerlab
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Nature has what you need
Salvaged wood to make chairs and a table is all Little Eco Footprints needed to make an inspired kitchen for her daughter. The perfect place to invite the fairies from the bottom of the garden to afternoon tea.
Image: Little Eco Footprints
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Keep it simple
A few large buckets holding up a wooden beam make a great mud kitchen. This one is by Laughing Kids Learn. The secret is creating the bench space over the mud itself.
Image: Laughing Kids Learn
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Add a dining setting
Simply move the play kitchen, table and chairs outside and you’ve got an instant mud kitchen. You could pick up a second-hand set for this exact purpose. This set up is at Living Laughing Loving.
Image: Living Laughing Loving
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A wheelbarrow works
A simple wheelbarrow with a board for a bench is all you really need. You can wheel it around the backyard to keep play in the shade. This set up is on Kids’ Activities Blog.
Image: Kids’ Activities Blog.
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Salvaged materials are perfect
Recycle an old bathroom vanity top into a fantastic mud kitchen and outdoor art space. Full instructions are on Rhythms of Play.
Image: Rhythms of Play
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Open for business
Tiny Peasant shared her kids’ mud kitchen on Eco Parents Magazine. We love the way this kitchen is set up as a little café – it even has the ‘open’ and ‘closed’ sign. Add a couple of garden gnome customers and some pretty plantings and it looks like a place we’d be happy to eat a mud pie at.
Image: Tiny Peasant
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Make it temporary
You can set up a temporary mud kitchen if you don’t want to have something permanent. Maxabella Loves created a fun place for her girls to play using an old table top and tree stumps. Plenty of dirt fun and when the kids tire of it, hose it down and put it away.
Image: Maxabella Loves
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Good old besser blocks
Besser blocks are great for building fun outdoor spaces for kids. Expect the Unexpected put them to good use in this mud kitchen. Plenty of bench space for lots of little hands to play side by side.
Image: Expect the Unexpected
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A shelf is all you need
The girls at Create with Your Hands are having a terrific time in their simple mud kitchen. It just proves that you don’t need to go to a lot of trouble – a brick shelf and lots of pots and pans are all a kid really needs.
Image: Create with Your Hands
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A giant portable sink
A genius use of an old wheelbarrow by Build Sew Reap. This mud kitchen is cleverly portable, so you can wheel it around to spread the water run off to different parts of the garden. The big sink that the wheelbarrow creates is a bonus.
Image: Build Sew Reap
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Just add mud
Proving that all you really need are mud and some kitchen supplies, the mud ‘kitchen’ at Rain or Shine Mamma is simplicity at its finest. A wooden bench stacked with old baking tins, bowls and utensils are all you really need.
Image: Rain or Shine Mamma
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Stack 'em up
The kitchen at Rhythm of the Home is made up of a few wooden crates stacked to house kitchen supplies and a container of water for clean up.
Image: Rhythm of the Home
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Add a cover
If you can spare the space, devoting a corner of your covered outdoor area to a mud kitchen is a brilliant idea. This one is from Latvian blogger Mammas Rokas is cleverly made mostly of boxes. Sure to get dirty and damaged, but so easily replaced.
Image: Mammas Rokas
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Make use of the fence
A few nails in the back wooden fence can turn an unused corner of the yard into a mud kitchen. Hang the pots and pans on the fence, like here on Owlet, add a table underneath and the mud kitchen is good to go.
Image: Owlet
