The toys you use in your mud kitchen can vary wildly! You can use anything from gorgeous sets of pots and pans to dollar store kitchen finds. Here are a few things that we love!
Pots and Pans
We love the ones we have from Melissa and Doug. We got them on Amazon and they have lasted us years. When choosing pots and pans for your mud kitchen you need to consider a few things.
- Water - whatever you use needs to be able to withstand the use of water.
- Material - Most of the wooden pan sets you can find are not made for play with real water. They will warp and be ruined if you add them to your mud kitchen. Plastic is a great option however take into account the longevity. The ones we have tried often break/crack quickly
- Cost - it may be that if you buy inexpensive pots and pants you won't mind if they need to be replaced. Or it may be that if you buy better quality they might last longer.
Sensory Stones
These little stones are amazing! They are strong, durable, darling, fun, and completely open ended! We have had our sets outside for years. Their colors have faded some but overall they have held up amazingly well. They have been tossed, dropped, buried, and played with over and over and I have no complaints about them at all. They come is so many varieties too!
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Pitcher
Any type of pitcher or a way to pour is wonderful in a mud kitchen. My 3yo calls it the "metal pouring thing". We have some plastic and some metal. The one we love the most right now is from Hobby Lobby.
Utensils and Dishes
We love getting these from the dollar store. My girls love going and picking out their own sets at the beginning of each summer. They last us a summer and then the next summer we go buy more. I don't care if they get broken or ruined because they are a dollar.
Trofast Bin Inserts
We LOVE our bin inserts from The Creative Learning Co. We use their potion and cup boards all the time. There are also some other amazing companies that offer light table inserts, alphabet inserts, and so much more. They are all perfect for the mud kitchen as long as they are made with acrylic or plastic so that they can withstand the use of water.
Water Dispenser
A water pump adds such a fun and independent element to mud kitchen play! It allows your babe to access their own water source and they are obsessed with it! Another fun idea is adding a drink dispenser. Any size will work perfectly. Some will even fit on the bottom shelf of our mud kitchen so your children have easy access to it.
Oven
Add our oven or stand alone fridge to add a whole new element to your child's mud kitchen play.
Finding fun toys for your child to use in the mud kitchen is easy. Old pots and pans, muffin tins, any size bowl or cup. Any scoops or utensils. They will use it all!