Mud Kitchen | DIY Homefit building for education

In recent blogs we have featured various examples of upcycling i.e. reusing existing items of furniture to create new products.   In this article we are delighted to feature an example very close to home!   

Jamie De Oliveira – our new General Manager at DIY Homefit – created an amazing mud kitchen  for Westwood Farm Infant School in Reading, where his wife Anna teaches.   The mud kitchen – pictured below – now takes pride of place in the EYFS (Early Years and Foundation Stage) garden at the school.

The mud kitchen is used to support and reinforce various areas of learning within Early Years.   For example, if there is a lesson on numeracy that includes weights and measures, the children can then be guided to use the equipment in the mud kitchen to measure ingredients such as water and mud.

By freely moving between learning and play, the children can be stretched and learn independently without even realising.   The children also helped to dress the mud kitchen once it had been assembled, including laying the adjoining table ready for people to eat!

Jamie is as pleased as the children with the result and is reasonable confident that it will be a permanent fixture in the garden “unless it falls over due to wear and tear!”.

If you feel inspired by the mud kitchen, here is Jamie’s recipe!   The mud kitchen took one day to create (not including varnishing coats) and the materials were kindly donated by local businesses.

Ingredients:

• 3 pallets (2 in entirety, 3rd one for recycled timber)
• A sink and taps
• Left over 4×2 timber

Method:

• Create an opening for the sink by cutting one pallet in half and turning it upside down (underside facing up)
• Fix the 4×2 timber as legs to the upside down pallet, for the inset sink to be placed in.
• Use the 2nd pallet as the rear stand for the kitchen
• Fix the sink recess (upside down pallet) onto the rear stand.
• Sand down all the timber and cover in marine varnish (needs about 4 coats)
• Fix some screws for hanging brackets

We’d love to hear from you any creative ways that you have upcycled items for different uses.  So if you’d like to be featured in a future blog then do send your details to info@diyhomefit.co.uk