If you want a mud patch in your backyard play space but you don’t want to sacrifice a piece of your lawn, a
mobile mud kitchen is the perfect solution!
Ahhh, good, old
mud play! Doesn’t every kid love squishing mud between their fingers and making mud pies? And how about all the mud patches, mud pits and mud kitchens popping up all over Pinterest? Don’t they look amazing? I really wanted to have one here my home daycare, but I wasn’t crazy about dedicating a patch of my family’s lawn to a permanent mud pit. So I put my thinking cap on and came up with this awesome
mobile mud kitchen!
This wonderfully portable mud pit can be set up and cleared away when ever I want. We can move it into the sun or the shade as needed, and it’s the perfect size for a group of children to gather around.
Let me show you how easily you can make a mobile mud kitchen for your own backyard.
To make our mobile mud kitchen, you’ll need:
- wheel barrow
- potting soil
- sandbox sand
- water
- mud-kitchen tools (dishes, pots, pans, wooden spoons, shovels and other various kitchen cast-offs)
How to make your mud:
To make the mud for your mud kitchen, pour equal amounts of potting soil and sandbox sand into the wheelbarrow. Potting soil is sold by the bag at any garden centre. Sandbox sand is also sold by the bag in the outdoor/garden section of many big-box stores.
Add a healthy splash of water from the garden hose, and stir it all together . Get the kids involved in this part. They can mix the mud with spoons and shovels, or they can get right in there and muck it together with their hands.
It’s best to add your water a little bit at a time to avoid making your mud too watery. It’s easier to add more water if you need it than to add more sand and soil.
Once your sand and soil is thoroughly combined and you’ve got a good, muddy mess in your wheel barrow, add in your dishes and tools.
Adding a work-surface:
I always add a “counter-top” to our mud kitchen by balancing a short plank along the handles of the wheelbarrow. This serves as an extra work surface and a place for the children to place their finished mud pies.
My daycare kids will play at our mobile mud kitchen for hours, baking, mixing, digging and just generally sloshing around in the mud.
A mud kitchen is a wonderful way for children to explore, create and learn. And of course, getting messy is one of he best things about playing in the mud!
At the end of the day, I cover the wheel barrow with a plastic table cloth, and wheel it back behind our shed.
After we’ve enjoyed our mobile mud kitchen for a few days, I dump the mud into the garden, spray the wheelbarrow with the garden hose, and store it until the next time we get the urge to have some good, old-fashioned muddy play!
If you’re looking more mud-play inspiration, pop on over and see our
muddy car-wash activity! It’s always a huge hit with the under 5 crowd.
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