Hey friends! Since we’re all hanging out at home in our space lately, I wanted to share a little project we completed recently. A few weeks ago I came to Mr. Ball with the idea of a mud kitchen. I was searching for ideas on Pinterest and realized most of the kitchens I was finding for sale were in the UK. It occurred to me that, just as Forest Preschool was more popular across the pond- so were mud kitchens. This makes sense. The ideas go hand in hand- outdoor play and an outdoor kitchen! I knew it would be more fun to create our own anyway…if Mr Ball was on board.

You see, the ideas always go something like this- I find it on Pinterest, I pitch the idea, talk about the idea, draw up a little sketch with my terrible drawing skills, and sometimes I even start to set out lumber or act like I know what I’m doing. Then- Mr. Ball does it for me. I like to think we’re a little like Chip and Jo in this aspect. I dream it up, he brings it to life. I love this dynamic. One because – I feel like the hard part is not on me. Two- because he’s WAY better at it than I am.

I started with a pile of junk wood. A Pallet, and some other random wood. Mr. Ball got rid of the pallet and started pulling out way different wood. Like I said- he usually improves on my ideas, and is way better at making it happen.

All was found in our garage and we spent $0 dollars on this. You guys. $0. Cute things can be done on the cheap. You just have to get creative.

If you don’t have wood at home, look for free pallets. A lot of times, businesses will have them. Look for scrap wood at places like Home Depot- They usually have scrap wood other people have cut for cheap! (Do this post-quarantine of course!)

This came together pretty quickly. I didn’t get a ton of pictures of the build after the main piece was together.

For this kitchen we used:

Mixing bowl from our kitchen with a small lip so it would sit in the hole well. Something like this would work.
Fintorp Rail and hooks/planter- for hanging plants with the planters or just hooks for utensils- from IKEA.

2×4’s for legs, main table
Tongue and Groove – for the back wall
1×3’s, 1×4’s for the bottom decking

Wood screws
Impact Drill
Jigsaw (To drill out the sink hole)

Again, we just used what we had in our garage and on hand, and you can use whatever works for you!

Our main goal was to have a space to play in the mud, create, and explore outside. Greyson has already been busy making us mud “pancakes” and making us try them all, as well as playing with worms in his sink!

Whatever you make your kitchen out of, I’m sure it will be fun, and exciting for your toddler. Remember, to them, it doesn’t have to be fancy. If you make it for them, they will love it!

We’d love to see your creations, please share!