Outdoor Classroom Ideas - Kitchen

An outdoor classroom kitchen isn’t a mud kitchen until you add a water pump, which brings it to life. Children can serve stick soup or mix up "the best mud pie in the world," fill cups and buckets, wash and rinse their dishes, water flowers and vegetables, and in the process, learn how to take turns and work together.

Learning and playing in a mud kitchen can develop a child's sensory and math skills.

Sensory skills can include texture recognition: children can recognize different textures of mud, such as smooth, gritty and slimy. They can also observe different colors, shapes and sizes of mud and natural materials such as leaves, sticks and rocks, which can enhance their visual perception.

When it comes to mud kitchen math, children are exposed to concepts of measurement, such as volume and weight, as they measure and mix mud and natural materials. They can count the number of ingredients or objects involved in mud kitchen play. They can even learn geometry starting at a young age as they use natural materials to create shapes, structures and patterns in the mud.

Mess is a misnomer for mud - it's beautiful, educational, and fun.