An Outside Play Area

I have been using pinterest a lot lately. Since being home due to the coronavirus crisis, I have more time on my hands and I love being outdoors and doing projects for my little one. I really wanted an area for a mud kitchen and a place for her play house and slide. I found many really cool ideas on pinterest but I had to use materials I already had or that I could get with contactless delivery to my home or car. I ordered landscaping fabric and picked out a spot in my yard along the fence.

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I ended up cutting away some of the fabric as you can see in the picture. I did this so my daughter can dig for dirt near her mud kitchen. I ended up having lots of extra bricks at home which I used to line the outside. I left 2 openings near the playhouse and the slide to get into the area. You could also use edging for the project.

Next I added mulch on top. I went with cedar natural mulch. You definitely don’t want dyed mulch because it will only be a mess. Some people used rubber mulch but I figured that might get too hot in the summer.

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I added some potted plants around the house.

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I plan to add some stepping stones (which will be tree stump slices) and paint numbers on them.

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I also added a little balance beam (made with bricks and a long piece of wood I had sitting in the garage.

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I used tools from her play set and extra kitchen tools for her mud kitchen. What is a mud kitchen? It’s just an area where kids can create and make “food” out of outdoor materials. Some people buy them, some use old wood, crates, or tables. I had an old side table I was going to get rid of so I used that. I ended up ordering hooks to attach to the fence for her materials and a container with a lid. Before summer I will probably try to add an umbrella or shade to the area using the fence or clothes line for shade.

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She loves her new play area, especially her mud kitchen. She makes “salamander tea” and soup. She heats it up on her stove in her playhouse.

I’d say it’s a hit!

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