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Kids love mud. This fact can hardly be dismissed out of hand. And they don't care if it's summer or winter. Splashing around with sand and water on the terrace, balcony or garden is an absolute highlight at any time of the year and an activity in the fresh air that promotes your child's creativity. To bring even more fun and joy to your outdoor space with new creations and the use of all kinds of toys, you should consider a mud kitchen. Mud kitchens are available from many well-known suppliers made of wood or plastic, but the prices deter some parents from buying an outdoor kitchen for children. It is very easy to build a mud kitchen yourself from wooden boxes, an old children's kitchen or a grocery store. We will show you step by step what you need to pay attention to when building a mud kitchen for your child.
We're building a mud kitchen: Here's how
You don't have to be a craftsman to build a mud kitchen. Of course it is possible to build an absolute designer outdoor play kitchen, but we want to focus on fun instead of looks. But what actually belongs to a mud kitchen? And how high should it be so that children of all ages can enjoy it? We answer these and other questions in this article and have a few tips for you on how to turn your mud kitchen into a play highlight in your garden or balcony.
Step 1: The right material
In order to find the best material for you, you should first consider how your mud kitchen should be structured, what should not be missing and what it should look like. Would you like to build a completely new mud kitchen or do you want to use existing material and fix it with a few boards and screws if necessary? Wood is best suited for an outdoor play kitchen, in which you can get a good splash. You should make sure that it is solid wood and that the wood is impregnated accordingly. The impregnation ensures that your child can enjoy his mud kitchen for a long time and can bake delicious sand cakes for you every year. Since your child comes into contact with the material of the mud kitchen in wind and weather, it also makes sense to use wood that has been tested for harmful substances or to use appropriate colors when painting.
Step 2: The Perfect Height
Does the perfect height actually exist? Probably not, but with your child as a guide, you can easily determine what height your mud kitchen should be to give your child the most enjoyment. Ideal for mud kitchens, play kitchens or shops: The work surface should not be higher than your child's navel. You should also make sure that the attached accessories do not hang too high on the back wall, so that your child can easily get to all the toys. You can reach a good height if you stack two wooden crates or old drinks crates on top of each other and screw them together to ensure a secure footing.
Step 3: The Must-Have
An absolute must for every mud kitchen is water. You don't need your own faucet, even if that has a positive effect on the look of your mud kitchen. A water connection for your mud kitchen can be easily built from an old tap and a garden hose and increases the fun of playing immensely. It is also a good idea to integrate two basins into the mud kitchen so that sand and water can be properly mixed. If you don't want to use plastic crates, you can also line wooden crates with foil and fasten them with small nails or a stapler. So the children can mush to their heart's content without the water running away from them and maybe you'll even get a delicious soup or two out of it.
Step 4: The Accessories
The prettiest DIY mud kitchen is boring and people don't like to use it if they don't have the right accessories. It doesn't matter whether it's old garden tools, discarded pots or chests and toys from the sandpit - children need all kinds of utensils to cook with mud, which they probably know from your kitchen at home. Have a look together at the flea market for cheap things, ask relatives about pots without lids or broken cooking spoons, or collect empty screw-top jars. Many household items that are unloved or even damaged can be turned into great toys.
Mud kitchens - fun for the whole family
Whether as a planting table for the parents, a crafting table for siblings or for extensive mudding and playing - such a mud kitchen is not only an absolute recommendation for children and offers many opportunities to let off steam creatively. If you want to make it easy for yourself, you can simply stack a few wooden boxes and create a water-sand experience with bowls, some toys and pots for the little cook or the little cook, which, especially in summer, makes the sandpit and the children's room in the will cast shadows. If you want something more complex, you can score with a combination of boxes and a pallet. There are countless DIY instructions to be found online.
We hope that one or the other tip for the right accessories, the optimal height or the components for your mud kitchen could help you with your next construction project and we look forward to seeing the results of the DIY mud kitchens soon.
