About
About Mud Kitchens
An independent Australian guide to mud kitchens and mud play, for families and early childhood educators.
Mud Kitchens is an independently published Australian website. It exists because "how do I build a mud kitchen?" and "which one should I buy?" deserve better answers than a listicle written for somewhere else, with prices in another currency and timber you can't get here.
What we cover
- Why mud play matters, and how to keep it safe.
- Plans to build your own, with Australian timber, hardware and prices.
- Buyer's guides to the mud kitchens sold in Australia.
- Play ideas and mud recipes for every season.
- Resources for educators, mapped to the Early Years Learning Framework.
How we choose products
Our buyer's guides are researched picks: we compare what each mud kitchen is made from, its size and bench height, its price including delivery, and what owners say after a few months outside. When we haven't used a product ourselves we say so. Hands-on reviews are labelled as reviews and only appear once we've had the product in a backyard.
No maker or retailer pays to be included in a buyer's guide, and none sees a guide before it is published.
Affiliate links
Some links to retailers are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. That income keeps the site free. It never decides what we recommend. Details are on our affiliate disclosure page.
Safety
Everything here is general information. Mud play should always be supervised to suit the age of the children, and you know your children, your yard and your service best. If you're an educator, follow your service's own policies and risk assessments.
Get in touch
Corrections, ideas and photos of your mud kitchen are all welcome. Contact us or send in your kitchen.