Inspired by this amazing article, we set up a mudpie kitchen in a shady spot in the backyard. To tell you the truth, my kids really don't need to be enticed to play in the mud (I call them the "Muddy Buddies"), but I thought a kitchen would be a natural extension of their daily muddy mayhem. Not to mention that the kitchen made me all sorts of nostalgic for summer afternoons with my childhood best friend Jenni W. (She was Jenni W., I was Jenny H. -- which had the potential to be confusing, but we always knew who we were, so it didn't bother us a bit.) Our best mudpies featured dried azalea topping, a dirty delicacy we dubbed "gramble," and the occasional worm. Oh, and crab apples. I can't forget the crab apples.
We don't have any azaleas here, so I dried out some hydrangeas for garnish. And while there isn't a crab apple to be found, we have no shortage of stinky crab claws. I set that stuff out in buckets, along with a basket of basic cooking tools, and a big bucket of water as a sink. I turned over a large galvanized bin (that we usually keeps our sports balls in) and free-handed some spiral-shaped squiggles on the underside to suggest stove burners.
Then, the fun part. Making mud. We turned the spinkers right on to our kitchen (and Jack helped them along with buckets of water) and kept testing the mud until we achieved the perfect consistancy. Once mud perfection was achieved, the cooking commenced.
Mmmmmm. Mud!
Now THIS is what kids need to be doing more of! Love the makeshift range too:)
Posted by: Pawan | 20 August 2010 at 12:13 PM
Nothing quite beats mudpies. Some of my favorite childhood memories center around making mudpies and convincing my cousin to eat them.
btw, I left an award for you at my blog! http://cultivatedlives.blogspot.com
Posted by: Heather | 20 August 2010 at 05:23 PM
We were inspired too. Here is ours:
http://littlebirdvv.blogspot.com/2010/08/this-moment-inspired-by-soulemama_12.html
Posted by: Funky Mommy | 22 August 2010 at 03:27 PM
I love this post! Thank you for sharing inspiration and loads of great pics.
There's an award for you at http://traininghappyhearts.blogspot.com/2010/08/award-and-giveaway.html :)
Posted by: Martianne | 22 August 2010 at 04:08 PM
Oh, what FUN!!
Posted by: kerri | 31 August 2010 at 06:56 AM
What a great idea! You gave the space and the materials and it looks like they just went wild with it. I love activities that engage kids like that!
Posted by: Jackie | 06 September 2010 at 09:07 PM
beautiful! and delicious!
Posted by: meg | 17 September 2010 at 12:12 PM
Oh wow I just found your blog and it is wonderful. I had to share with you that I have a mud pie cookbook that I made as a child. Perhaps I should post about it one day. The ingredients in the recipies mostly include mud, sand, tree cheese (soft insides of these trees that grew by my childhood home) leaves, acorns etc. With instruction for how long to leave in the sun. Thanks for reminding me of this!
Posted by: Natasha | 09 February 2011 at 10:04 PM