The Mud Kitchen--At First

We play in the mud.

Not as much this year as last because we've had some violations of the three parameters I've set for mud play;

1.  Swim suits = mud clothes
2.  Mud play takes place in the back yard at the edge of the patio
3.  Keep the mud out of the wading pools.

I still believe in mud play for healthy child development.

And I've been searching for something the kids and I could build together . . .

A mud kitchen!!!

Ultimately I'd like our kitchen to include cupboards and shelves and all kinds of kid-built stuff, but we started with the sinks and counter.

I found an old, old, old piece of plywood in the garage that was long enough for half a dozen (or more) kids to work comfortably together.

It was a family project just getting the board out of the garage because it was wedged in from floor to ceiling!

I have few pictures of that first day because I had no one to man the camera while I helped kids.

We sanded the board as smooth as possible.

We traced the outline of the dishpans ( $.97 each) onto the board.

We drew a new line 3/8" inside the outline, and we drilled access holes in each corner.  I let the kids help drill.

Then we set to work with a small handsaw.

Only it turned out to be a drywall saw.

But I didn't know that, and the kids didn't know that, and it didn't keep us from sawing away all day . .

which is what I really wanted . . .

a project that would allow us to WORK together.

The next morning I had to be away, and I left them in Sir Walter Scott's hands.  He found his jigsaw and cut all of the sinks in 10 minutes.  Then he routed the edges to smooth them out.

I almost cried.

But it turned out that he let the kids do the work with him.

And they were alive with light at using Daddy's special tools and doing a really good job.

They showed me their finished work--how the dishpans fit into the cutouts with precision.  The little boys just glowed as they told me about all of Daddy's tools.

And I realized that even though they didn't work the way I envisioned, they worked a different way, and they shared a really special time with Daddy.  They were thrilled with their semi-finished product.

Joy.  Work.  Pride in a job well done.

That's good.

The next day I helped them put the legs on . . . and my camera-man was home. :)

About 10 minutes later, they were in their mud clothes and having a grand time.

I failed to capture much of the first day of play . . .

but I imagine there will be a great deal of awesomely muddy days in our future.

And we've got some pallets and loose boards in the garage that will make really, really cool mud kitchen shelves!