Foundation 2 mud kitchen

One Saturday all the teachers from FS went on a course to learn about cooking in a mud kitchen.  Then with the children we made our own mud kitchen.  The children decided where in our garden the mud kitchen should be and what sorts of things they would like included in it.  The children also thought about how to be safe in their mud kitchen and agreed they would wear waterproof clothing and wellington boots when working in this area. 

The children helped to prepare the area and spread bark chips on the ground then collected the furniture and decided where they wanted it to be placed.  They then got to work and began preparing their recipes and mud food!  Some of the most popular creations were soups, potions, sausages, pancakes with snails and worms!  They are very happy because  when working with mud,  a chemical reaction occurs, the body produces serotonin which makes you happy.  

The children have taken great ownership of their mud kitchen and it is their responsibility to wash up and tidy the mud kitchen at the end of the day.  Washing up is very popular and the children have enjoyed using the scrubbing brushes. It is also an important part of the play as whilst restoring calm and order in the kitchen they are also restoring calm within themselves.