Back in 2020 when we were all spending a LOT of time at home, our kids needed a new way to stay entertained outside. I pulled up the ever handy Pinterest and found the perfect answer: a mud kitchen!
You know how every time you go outside and your kid finds a few rocks, a stick, and a very important flower? A mud kitchen is the perfect outdoor place for kids to store and play with their nature treasures, make actual mud pies, and then use water to clean it all up. You can purchase one online or find any number of DIY plans to build your own. We opted for a simple DIY set up consisting of a basic wood table at kid height with a removable bowl (a.k.a. the sink) and an old faucet. There’s no right way to set up your mud kitchen but it might be helpful to stock yours with a few things for even more imaginative and long-lasting play.
Play food
Let it be known that you really don’t need any toys or extras for your mud kitchen unless you want them, but if you’re looking for a little extra pizazz, play food is a fun addition. Our favorites are sensory stones in the shape of fruits and veggies (you can find some on Amazon.) Plastic food is not something we have explored because anything you put in your mud kitchen is likely to get wet so stones are less likely to grow mold.
Storage vessels
Open your kitchen cabinets and pull out the Tupperware that doesn’t have a matching lid, the old mixing bowl you never use, measuring cups, old containers from your protein powder, and any other vessels that might be good for magical outdoor creations. We have a Melissa and Doug set of pots and pans, some old Tupperware, a few old spice jars (plastic), and even an old parmesan cheese container in the rotation for our mud kitchen currently. Over the years we’ve had a colander or two in the mud kitchen that made for some confusion and great entertainment too.
Utensils to stir with
You can’t make a masterpiece without the proper utensils! Just like the bowls or Tupperware you found, head to your own kitchen and take a look at what you’re not using. As long as it’s safe to use and OK to be outside, add it to your mud kitchen. My kids LOVE when I clean out the kitchen because it always turns up new treasures to bring outside and play with. When it really comes down to it, this is a mud kitchen so have the kids find a few sticks! They are perfect to stir with and then make a wonderful addition to any flower soup.
Nature
Anything they find is fair game! Our mud kitchen has seen all variations of mud, rocks, flowers, dirt, sticks, grass, water, and anything else they can find since we’ve had it. We typically start with a walk around our neighborhood or our yard to find some supplies before returning home to “cook” with whatever we’ve collected. There’s never a short supply of natural entertainment with a mud kitchen and I’m always amazed at how entertained my kids are with a little dirt.
Little did you know that by stocking your mud kitchen you would also be giving yourself the chance to clean out your own kitchen. Our mud kitchen is the most used toy EVER in our home and every kid that comes over uses it along with our own kids. The best part is when you want to clean the slate you can dump out or hose off whatever they’ve been using and start over.
