Mud kitchen tutorial

How to make a DIY outdoor mud kitchen for kids with running water and a hose connection, out of an Amazon potting bench:

Did you ever make nature stew when you were a kid?

We used to have a blast “cooking” with dirt, grass, leaves, flower petals, and water from the garden hose.

As a mom, I decided to make a mud kitchen for my own kids, where they could do some nature cooking of their own.

I wanted to give them a space to get outside, use their imaginations, and have some good old-fashioned, messy fun in the backyard.

But when I started looking for a mud kitchen for our own backyard, everything I found online was either too expensive (often $400-$500 – yikes!) or they were toddler-sized. I wanted something that all my kids- even the older ones- could play with together.

That’s when I decided to convert a wooden potting bench into an outdoor mud kitchen with running water.

Here’s how we did it, and you can do it too:

1. Buy and assemble a potting bench

We chose this potting bench, after reading a bunch of reviews and looking at all the measurements.

I went the extra mile, and weather-proofed it with 2 coats of Tung Oil. (You’ll need about 16 oz- maybe a little less.)

1 year update: Even with this weatherproofing, we did see some minor cracking in the wood after a winter outside in the snow and ice. If you want to keep your mud kitchen in the best shape, I would recommend keeping it in a garage or shed, or coving it during the winter.

2. Add running water

Next, I wanted to add running water for that extra wow factor.

We have a play kitchen that we’ve converted into a functional kitchen with running water, and the kids play with it every day. I knew running water in our mud kitchen would be a huge hit as well.

Here’s how we did it:

We bought this faucet on Amazon.

My husband drilled a one inch hole in the surface of the potting bench to fit the faucet.

In order to make the connection from the garden hose to the faucet, we needed to add 2 adapters to the hose, which we found at Lowe’s: This one and this one.

It takes a little muscle to screw everything together, but once you get it all attached, it works perfectly!

We could now hook up the faucet to the garden hose and we had running water.

(Learn from our mistakes)

If you are trying to recreate our mud kitchen, here are 2 technical notes to make it a little easier for you:

1. Drill the hole before completing the assembly of your potting bench. We had to take the top portion back off again in order to fit the drill in to make the hole.
2. Position your hole as far to the back of the counter-surface as possible (farther away from the sink than we did.) Otherwise, it will be harder to take the sink in and out to empty it.

3. Add accessories!

OK, this is the absolute best part of making your own mud kitchen- all the fun accessories!

I got all of our accessories from the dollar store, the thrift store, stuff we already had around our house, and Amazon.

You can find everything that we got from Amazon here.

If you see anything else that you’re having trouble finding, just ask in the comments and I’ll try to help you track it down.

Pots, pans and utensils

I found one enormous pot, a tea kettle, and a bunch of metal bowls at our local thrift store. My one rule for the mud kitchen was nothing breakable! So the metal was perfect.

I also got some kitchen utensils like a scrub brush and some large spoons, along with a few pans, at the dollar store.

Flower and herb pots

I knew I wanted to give my kids the opportunity to plant and grow different seeds. They’re always asking to grow the seeds they find in their fruit, and I never know what to do with the plants that we get as a result. 🤪

So I included several pots full of dirt, and some seeds to get them started. Hopefully they’ll be able to grow and use their own herbs in their nature concoctions.

A menu board and markers

1 year update: While we do still love and use our chalkboard, it has proven NOT to be weather-proof! The frame around the sides started cracking and falling apart after just a few months of being left out in the rain, etc.

I attached this chalkboard to one side of the kitchen, and got my kids these chalk markers to go with it.

They have so much fun filling in the daily menu for their “restaurant” each time they play.

Mud kitchen cafe menu

I created a cafe menu for our mud kitchen with all kinds of fun nature items the kids can make and order, from pine needle soup to mud sorbet. You can download yours here!

Jars and bottles

I found some bottles at the dollar store, and bought these jars on Amazon. Then I attached some chalkboard label stickers so that the kids could fill the bottles and jars with whatever they want and label them.

I started them out with some beans and rice from the dollar store, but once those are gone, they will be able to fill up the jars with whatever they find in the yard.

I also grabbed a few spices at the dollar store, and we’ve had some very delicious-smelling nature stews already as a result.

Just for fun

My oldest daughter is 8 years old, and I added a few fun pieces just for her.

I found these guest check pads on Amazon, and she has really enjoyed creating a menu, taking orders, and adding up the price of the different meals she invents. She’s even learned how to calculate tax. 😮

We also added a cheap phone, which the kids love using to take pretend take-out orders.

This bell has also been very popular. The kids love to ring it and shout, “Order up!” when their food is ready.

And I had to include a few tools for cutting and grinding up ingredients: A pair of scissors, and this mortar and pestle set, which has been a favorite backyard “toy” of ours for a while now.

Amazon list

I created an Amazon list with a lot of the supplies that we used to create this mud kitchen. You can see it here.

I hope you have so much fun creating your own backyard mud kitchen!

Thanks for reading,

Laura

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