Mud-Kitchen Remodel

[nothingwithoutjoy]

I spent the morning on a spur-of-the-moment mud-kitchen remodel. (I was supposed to be raking the mountains of leaves, so, naturally, I found something more fun to do.) Come check it out if you're interested in those sorts of things...

[NillaWafers]

Nice! I really want to make one of these! How do you deal with the mess though. I am terribly type a (my poor kids).

[spedmommy4]

I love it! I attached a photo of mine. I just spray it down once in awhile. It's a mud kitchen. It's supposed to be dirty.

[nothingwithoutjoy]

I love it! I attached a photo of mine. I just spray it down once in awhile. It's a mud kitchen. It's supposed to be dirty.

Ooh...fancy!

[nothingwithoutjoy]

Nice! I really want to make one of these! How do you deal with the mess though. I am terribly type a (my poor kids).

I love the mess of playing--muddy kids are just how I think they should be.

I don't love a messy looking yard. My mud kitchen is in a back corner, surrounded by a circle of logs. They can dig within the logs, but not in the rest of my yard. And when we clean up each day, I like things to be put away in a tidy, organized way. I also choose things I like the look of--metal and wood, cute copper molds, old enamel pans. I thought I'd hate the look of the pallet (it's not a particularly nice one), but once it was all set up, I didn't mind it at all.

[Aussiedaycare]

I saw your photos on Facebook this morning (I'm one of your followers - found you by accident and then clicked who you were!) it's looks lovely!!

[Josiegirl]

Your dcks are so lucky!! Love it and all the down-to-earth things you do with them!
Dumb question alert-do you put it all away during the winter?

I seriously need to find a resource for some of this stuff.

[Silly Songs]

I had no idea what you were referring to in your first post. I thought it was some type of laundry room /mudroom. Cute idea .

[spedmommy4]

I don't know about joy but I don't. It's so heavy. My mud kitchen is about 100 lb and California winters aren't too bad. We get rain and that's about it.

[nothingwithoutjoy]

Thank you!

No, I don't put anything away. (No dumb questions!) It just all gets buried under the snow. I teach the kids to store the bowls and stuff upside down, so they don't fill with water, or they'd get wrecked by freezing (and grow mosquitos). When there's not too much snow (i.e. it's not completely buried), it becomes a "snow kitchen" instead of a "mud kitchen."

As for resources, lots of it comes from the curb when people leave tag-sale leftovers out for free at the end of the day. Some of it's retired from my own kitchen. The nicer stuff I've bought at thrift stores or tag sales for a buck or two ($5 for the most-expensive large enameled tub we use as a sink). All the "furniture" came from the curb, and the logs are from a tree we had to have removed.

[daycare]

Sorry I didn't get to read everything. sorry if it was already asked.

My only question is how do you clean up the kids? I am assuming the kids get really muddy? Do you have an outdoor sink to wash up?

I can see needing to change all 14 of my kids if I let them play in the mud.

[NillaWafers]

Sorry I didn't get to read everything. sorry if it was already asked.

My only question is how do you clean up the kids? I am assuming the kids get really muddy? Do you have an outdoor sink to wash up?

I can see needing to change all 14 of my kids if I let them play in the mud.

That's what I meant! Haha, I hate changing the kids, even if I only have 5!

I am kinda inspired though we have two pallets sitting in the sideyard, we are gonna go thrifting today and I will pick up some pots and pans. Maybe if I bought rubber aprons it would reduce the mess.

[Josiegirl]

OT but Spedmommy, LOVE your new picture. And I have a little girl that is 100% like that.

[spedmommy4]

OT but Spedmommy, LOVE your new picture. And I have a little girl that is 100% like that.

Thanks. Me too. One of my friends posted it and I have three kids like this right now.

Regarding cleaning the kids . . . California is in a drought. No mud in our mud kitchen. They get plenty dirty and I dust them off and send them home, as is. Parents are duly warned that kids will get dirty here.

I do have those long sleeve smocks for art, and plan to use them if we ever get rain around here. I also have a have a hose with a spray nozzle to rinse off their hands.

[nothingwithoutjoy]

My only question is how do you clean up the kids? I am assuming the kids get really muddy? Do you have an outdoor sink to wash up?

I can see needing to change all 14 of my kids if I let them play in the mud.

No, they don't usually get that muddy. Their hands get filthy, and feet when it's warm enough for bare feet. And sometimes someone spills something all down themselves. Many days, 1 kid changes. Often no one. Some days 2. Rarely more than that. By the time we get inside, they've been cleaning up toys for a while, so their hands are usually dry. In warm weather, I fill a bin of water near the door and they rinse off their feet before going in. In cold weather, I don't offer water, so it's more of a dirt kitchen unless it rains.

It's like any sensory experience. At first, it's all exploration (think painting your hands rather than the paper), but once you've done that a lot, you start using the material for a purpose (painting a picture). Kids who have access to mud all the time don't have to cover themselves in it every day. :-)

We have a rain barrel in the mud kitchen, and that's where they get their water. They spend a lot of time filling containers, digging up dirt, mixing and "cooking" and serving. It's not like a big giant mud puddle (which is also fun, but I wouldn't want to do it every day!)

The hump to get over is the idea that if they get wet/muddy they have to go in and wash or change right away. With new kids, I spend time teaching "we get dirty outside--it's ok. We'll clean up when we get inside" and "if you play with water, you have to realize that you might get wet."