Nowadays childhood is full of haste, filled with electronics and hundreds of colorful toys, but in all this hustle and bustle it’s easy to forget about simple games that have always been fun for all children. Today, we will take a mud kitchen under the magnifying glass. Find out why it is important and why you should have it at school, kindergarten, garden or playground.
Most of us remember mud fun, preparing herbal soup, dairy cakes or “delicious” puddle tea and how much fun it gives! It is worth returning to the roots and allow the children to play with it. In addition to good entertainment, the mud kitchen allows for free creativity and the release of children’s energy. It is worth organizing such a space for children in the open air – you can do it yourself from wood, pallets, old furniture, unnecessary dishes. There are many possibilities and its attractiveness depends on our creativity and available materials. However, it should be noted that safety is important in kindergartens, schools or playgrounds and in this case it is best to use certified products specially adapted for public use.
Play in the mud kitchen allows children to experience different smells, materials, textures and sounds. It engages all the senses of the child and positively affects sensory integration. It also develops creativity and small motor skills through activities such as pouring or kneading. In addition, it is a great space to shape the social skills – children creating vegetable dishes naturally learn communication and appropriate social attitudes. It is worth adding that depending on the outdoor kitchen equipment, mud kitchen can become not only a place for culinary play, but also a real science laboratory or platform for artistic and constructive games. Play in the mud kitchen also develops language and communication skills of children who are eager to talk about their experiments during the play. They talk about their recipes, they share and exchange the acquired ingredients and present their natural experiments. It is also worth noting that garden kitchen can also serve to broaden the basic mathematical knowledge. Children can learn units of measure, volume, compare weights. To create a brilliant dish or potion it is necessary to properly measure the amount of mud, appropriate dose of sand, grass, leaves or flowers. By equipping the kitchen with measuring jugs or scales, children acquire the ability to read scales and measures.
Despite of all , impeccably clean and hygienic space does not increase childrens` health immunity. Numerous scientists confirm that the mud contains microscopic bacteria called Mycobacterium Vaccae which stimulate the immune system, increase the level of serotonin and endorphins which relieve stress and help to relax. Researchers say that exposure to bacteria strengthens susceptibility to diseases such as allergies, frequent infections and asthma. In addition, being outdoors and the sun provides the child’s body with the necessary dose of vitamin D, which improves well-being, increases mental resistance and reduces the susceptibility to depression.
Of course, you can do it on your own using the old furniture such as tables, old shelves, pieces of wood and everything that you can find in our home. If you do not have such materials, all the necessary elements can be bought in DIY stores in which you can buy the appropriate length table top or a small sink.
It is worth paying attention to the selection of materials, if the kitchen is to serve several years in our garden. Then we advise you to impregnate wood every year and build a solidmconstruction. The child’s safety is important here. The construction of the kitchen should be stable, the materials finished to avoid sharp edges and splinters and the space around the kitchen should not be slippery after contact with mud and water.
If you need a professional mud kitchen in a kindergarten, school or playground, where it should serve a large group of children for many years, we recommend a selection of ready-made solutions that have the necessary certificates, approvals and the highestquality. Taking into account safety, durability and quality, we have created all-season Eco-kitchen. Thanks to the large dimensions our kitchen will allow 6-8 children to play freely. What are the biggest advantages of professional Eco-kitchen in public places?
• galvanized and powder coated steel construction protecting against bad weather conditions;
• tops made of high quality Siberian wood impregnated with special oil;
• the big set of miniature pots made of stainless steel, as well as mini-kitchen utensils and molds for making “cookies”;
• 2 stainless steel sinks with openings through which water flows freely;
• shelf and railings on which you can hang pots on special hooks (also included free of charge for Eco-Kitchen).
Eco-Kitchen is one of the few devices on playgrounds that allows children to play all year round, regardless of the weather!
