Natural ingredients with Coloured Water in the Mud Kitchen

Our Mud Kitchen is honestly the best and most used kids play thing in our house, no toy compares. If you're considering making a mud kitchen for your children or a preschool, don't feel as if it will be limited to Mud only and messy play, there are so many ways to play in an "Outdoor Kitchen".
Sometimes Dimples asks to go play in the Mud Kitchen but I don't feel like cleaning up muddy clothes so instead of allowing him to get really messy I give him some containers filled with coloured water (tap water and a drop of food colouring) & we go on a hunt for natural cooking ingredients.

This is just as fun as making mud pies but without the mess. Miss Cherub enjoys tinkering in the coloured water just as much as Dimples enjoys making rose tea and Sweet gum nut soup.
In the past we have done some pretty messy Mud play in this Outdoor Kitchen; A Mud Rally Box full of cars and diggers,   Process Painting with Mud & Making a Mud Brick House. If you missed it I have also done a Post on Eight Benefits of Playing in the Mud, however the coloured water was a nice change.

Before making some colourful concoctions, Dimples and I fill up his orange buckets from the Renovated Mud Kitchen with Natural ingredients. Gumnuts, flowers, seeds, twigs, flower buds, and little bits and pieces found in the yard in preparation for his cooking session. Then he creates some beautiful concoctions, mixing together the colours and 'cooking' them, or boiling the water first then adding natural ingredients to stir through.

This type of play is so fresh and calming, Dimples and Miss Cherub could do this for hours. Actually, come to think of it they play happily together for a long time which doesn't occur to this extent in any other play space.  There is something very tranquil about enjoying the sunlight coming through the trees on to the outdoor mud kitchen while the two kiddies play silently together with beautiful flowers and colourful water. They  look so at peace in the world; nothing else matters. 

Dimples & Miss Cherub explore the outdoor environment, search for natural ingredients, experiment with mixing colours, use great imaginations to create and cook up a serve, they role play as they cook and serve me fabulous looking dishes, they are also getting the social advantages of turn taking, sharing, cooperating and playing together. They are also getting hands on experience as they stir, pour, sift, transfer, mix, lift, empty and measure out the water and ingredients.

 

Learning concepts:

Benefits of being outdoors

Exploring Nature

Mixing Colours

Gross Motor - They're always moving as they lift, pour, mix, transfer, measure, stir etc.

Role Playing real life

Imaginative Play

Social Skills - cooperation, sharing, turn taking, collaborating, working together & helping one another.

Happy Adventures 

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Mud Kitchen Outdoor Play Renovation

Summer time in Australia means outside play for us, we are lucky to have a large double yard with some big shady trees to play under. 

Over a year ago we made this Magnificent Mud Kitchen which has been well and truly used, enjoyed and utilized in many ways which adds to the outdoor adventures but it was time to update and add some more elements. There are some new storage pots, a few jugs, his own toaster (our old one with cord cut off) and a spice rack with jars among other things. 

Here it is.....

 

I love to encourage Dimples to play outside, although he is such a movie/TV lover, i think if I put the TV or a movie on he would sit in front of the screen all day!  So most days the television stays OFF all day, and to avoid the question of  "can i watch a cartoon?" and encourage some active, imaginative and outdoor play we have been renovating (so to speak) Dimples outdoor Play space; We have been working on a music wall, a large sandpit, A PVC Pipe Water Wall   and   a Dino themed play garden in a tyre. 

its a work in progress and it is coming along nicely. 

We have updated and renewed the Mud Kitchen in many ways....
First I laid down some rubber mats under the mud kitchen, then i dug a dry creek bed that goes under a sweet little bridge (just to add the element of imagination into the play setting) I bordered the entire area off and laid down some plastic, then got a heap of bark chip in so now Dimples Outdoor Balance Stumps are embedded in the bark chip. He still has his Pirate tree house there, hop-scotch and many climbing apparatuses.

 

I added some pots and utensils to the Mud Station and screwed in these cute Orange metal buckets across the front so that Dimples could store his cooking ingredients in them. They make the area more practical and more appealing as everything Dimples needs is within arms length.
He can now tie in some Nature Play by collecting his own seeds, rosemary from the garden, seashells when we are out, gum nuts, dandelions, pebbles and flowers to store in the orange pots and use in his cooking creations.

A favorite meal is still Wombat Stew.
He often cooks meals, chatting away to himself, narrating his own pretend play  "just a table spoon of this, a sprinkle of that, mix it, cook it for 15 minutes, add a handful of this" I love his role playing and listening to his vocabulary develop.
He enjoys pretending to be a Master Chef at the "Dog Club Cafe" and serves up dishes full of things from the garden, add some mud, water and sand to season then he gives it to our 3 dogs.
Get this.... they actually sit and eat it (or sit there and lick the water out but Dimples is convinced he cooks gourmet style).

Another coat on the chalk board renewed its life. Its been a great addition to the mud kitchen, it aids in early literacy by providing a writing surface to practice/pretend writing a menu. I usually write a menu up to read to Dimples of he will ask me to write certain things, like Wombat Stew and watch me.
The soft outdoor rubber Mats underneath mean we don't have grass popping up everywhere any more and if Dimples drops some ingredients they can be scooped right up and reused. They also give it an indoor feel, like its a real kitchen.
I think out of all our outdoor play and DIY projects this has been consistently the most used and enjoyed.

Do you have an Outdoor Kitchen?

What is the most loved ingredient to create with?

Happy Adventures 

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I love reading your comments 
 

Muddy Play Round Up

Things have been quiet around here, Miss Cherub is now 4 weeks old and we are still settling in.   Dimples has been a great little helper and his usual active self. We have been having lots of fun, so although the blog may be getting a bit quieter we certainly aren't and life is very busy at the moment until we find our new rhythm.

 

In recent months we have been experimenting with mud.

Here is a round up of the Muddy Posts to convince you its not so bad :)

 

Dimples loves to get messy and loves the outdoors.  In the backyard he has his very own mud pit, right next to his sand pit and a very cool mud kitchen (see below) this feed the messy outdoor play addiction. It provides endless avenues of play and learning experiences, playing with mud doesn't have to end with mud pies! 

 

I realise not every one is keen on letting their child play in the mud but we here in the Australian country are used to the dirt and mud, we embrace it.  You wont see a door step that doesn't have a muddy pair of gumboots sitting by the door. 

 

Let me try and convince you that it is a good thing with a round up of our Mud play.  Take note, as you look through, to the lovely happy and cheerful expressions on Dimples face as he plays away.

  

 

Mud is good for you right?

This was one of the first adventures we had with mud. I was sceptical and had to do a little research to reassure myself it was OK to give him free range of mud. We started with the classic mud pies and gumboots. Dimples had a ball, he enjoyed it so much; This post has info on why mud is good for kids to play with.

Mud Rally Tub

If you aren't comfortable with free range of mud and after a quick clean up, or if you're in an apartment or city where mud just isn't easily accessed this one is for your children. A mud sensory tub, keep it all in the tub and it can be tipped out and washed after the play is finished.

 

 

 

8 benefits to playing in the mud

Another post that includes information on why it is good to let the children get messy and play in mud. Its a free and endless resource with many benefits, check out these 8 reasons.

 

The Mud Kitchen

 

This is the marvellous Mud kitchen that Dimples Adventurous Dad built him. It is awesome and has been one of the best gifts he has. He loved his outdoor play and this kitchen, which cost next to nothing has provided him with so many memorable play experiences already.

Mud Painting process Art

Something different where the child gets to explore mud without getting absolutely covered in it. This post was Dimples mud painting, or should I say splatting? Art is all about the process and this one, done with mud was really process art. Have a look at the different tools we used to create it.



 

How to make and play with Mud bricks

The most recent Mud adventure that is by far my favourite is How we made and played with Mud bricks. Dimples really enjoyed constructing mud brick huts, houses, walls and stairs with the mud bricks that he made himself. It was also a good lesson on how materials are formed.

 

 

So there you have it.

Lots of muddy fun in lots of different ways.

Mud play doesn't have to be simple mud pies, it can be what ever you want it to be.

Have I convinced you yet?

 

Happy adventures

 



Mud Painting: Its 'Process' Art

Mud stations provide much more than just pretend cooking and mud pies.
Have you ever tried Mud painting?
It is pretty effective and I am sure you know that Mud painting isn't done for a beautiful product you can put on the fridge.
It is process Art: which means it is all about the exploration, learning and experimenting that the child experiences during the process of creating the art.

Here Dimples had lots of fun Stamping, Splatting and Stomping things in the mud.
He explored the different patterns made from the different shaped utensils and what happened when he used them differently; tilting them, rolling them, splatting them, stamping them, sliding them around to get different effects on the white paper.

The whisk and the masher were the favourites as they had the most effective print.
I had some plastic animals near by that he wasn't too interested in. He used a pig and a dinosaur to do foot prints. He made them stomp around for a while and rolled the pig in the mud but went straight back to the utensils.

Remember, Its the PROCESS that matters: Children's Process Art fosters sensory perception, it provides the opportunity to represent and symbolises real life experiences or just be freely imaginative, it offers children a chance to explore, experiment, learn by cause and effect, create and build, but most importantly it gives them the freedom to be an individual.
Creating an Art piece, in their eyes is a way for them to express themselves in the way they wish without having to conform. The process is fun and may be many different things to them. This freedom is what makes it special. So when it comes to children, forget about the beauty of their art and focus on what is being experienced.

What better way to explore the process and freedom of Art than with some Mud painting?

Happy Adventures :)

The Mud Kitchen - A Recipe for marvellous Outdoor play

Hello lovely blog visitors. Welcome!

I am sharing the newest edition to Dimples out door play area today. The awesome and totally messy mud kitchen. The best recipe for engaging children in messy, active, outdoor learning is with mud.

The complete Mud station

Here is the DIY mud kitchen that we built for Dimples in a few hours using recycled materials. It is much better than any store bought plastic kids kitchen and it is a outdoor hardy and durable one that is able to get messy and muddy time after time.



Marvellous Mud

The mud kitchen is built from off cuts of wood that I painted with chalk board paint, they're butted in to a old sink that came from a wrecked caravan, you could grab one from the wreckers or the buy back at the tip. That's it really! They're screwed together onto the side of Dimples tree house: click here to check out the tree house.  Then we added a plastic tub as another sink and an old plastic shelf unit as a storage/pretend stove.  We added some nails at the top, out of the way in order to hang the utensils and pots from and then it was ready for action.

Helping to build the mud kitchen.

We hadn't even finished building it before dimples decided he would start mixing his mud together.
Dimples enjoyed his mud kitchen for the rest of the afternoon.
He has some old pots hanging up, some measuring cups, sifts, ladles, spoons and scoops, a tray full of small bowls, plates and tongs, some old muffin trays and of course a water can.

Happily Making & creating   - Role Playing a Host & Serving it up for me   - Pretending to eat imaginary desert

Nearby I have up cycled an old sand pit as a mud pit.

How awesome, an endless supply of mud on hand for hours and hours of messy outdoor play.
If you are wondering about the germs, bugs or spiders that may house themselves in the mud I have been told that a majority aren't necessarily attracted to mud. If you do a little research, you will see that mud actually houses good bacteria and the benefits outweigh the mess of it by far. Here is a previous post on why Mud is good for you.

Making Master Peices

If you're still worried, wash your dirt first and run a pick or spade through it to break it all up, dose it in vinegar to rid it of germs, mix in some sand and add clean top soil from the garden centre.
Also apparently creepy crawlies hate cinnamon, so mix through some of this. Be careful not to use any chemicals because they will be released into your child's skin when handling and watering the dirt. To maintain a clean mud station just remember to check it regularly, tose it around and stir it up regularly, add vinegar or cinnamon once in a while and remove natures debri.

Mud Muffins Freshly made

Playing in the Mud as a child is often a fond memory held by every one whether you were allowed to freely or just did after a big down fall of rain.
Playing in the Mud makes kids happy.
I really am starting to see this now since Dimples has his mud kitchen. He can peacefully and independently play in his mud kitchen chatting away to himself for hours. I reckon if I left him, he would entertain himself there all day.

The process of Mud making can be messy, but the entire mud kitchen can be easily hosed down.

 Happy, content, peaceful, outside in the fresh air, actively exploring nature and playing independently with a natural sensory resource is one of the best forms of play in my eyes. It is so open ended and evokes a sense of freedom.
Playing outside in the dirt or the mud encompasses all the senses while the child is learning and is a fulfilling hands on activity that not only has been said to be good for you but is connecting the child's spirit, soul, imagination and physical self to the outdoors. Absolute bliss.

For more outdoor play ideas you may like

Outdoor Balance Stumps

Our Magical Gnome Garden

Our Outdoor Real Life Family Tree Painting

An Outdoor Spider Cave

Outdoor Obsticle Course Fun

Happy Outdoor Adventures.