Welcome To Our Mud Kitchen

We have always played in the dirt at our center. Love To Grow On believes children should make happy memories and one way to do this is to get dirty. We tell parents their children will get dirty, encourage them to provide LOTS of extra clothes and check their hooks daily for clothes that need to be laundered. We have amazing families who embrace our philosophy and are happy to see the clean child they dropped off looking like a dirty, piglet who has been rolling in the mud.

I have never created a mud kitchen, in all my years teaching with the purpose of mud play as the main goal. I am taking a class from Victoria Hackett and her site The Outdoor Classroom.  I gathered up a few old pans, pulled out a sheet of plexiglass and some milk crates we had in storage, provided scoops, shovels and buckets. Let kids transfer buckets of water to the area and then sat back and enjoyed the fun.

It was by far one of the busiest areas on the playground.  Even the school age class was engaged for long periods of play when it was their outdoor time on the playground. In the afternoon as we were waiting for parents to pick up their children both preschoolers and school agers were actively engaged in cooperative play and learning.

Do you have a mud kitchen? What are your favorite items to provide in the mud play? Hat is one of your fondest memories from playing in the mud?
I look forward to this area growing and changing.
Be sure to scroll through all of the photos below.  Especially if the video is not working.

Links to Victoria Hackett's website and to Love To Grow On.

http://www.outdoor-classrooms.com/author/outdoorc/

http://lovetogrowon.com