Make your own mud kitchen: Mud-filled fun for outside
- Difficultymedium
- Cost30-50 €
- Duration4-5 h
Introduction
Lots of cool things can be made with water and sand – your kids, in particular, can really get creative with it. This isn’t only true of sandpits: the DIY mud kitchen will make their sand pies even tastier. And all the necessary utensils can be put away directly. That’s why we’ll show you how to build a mud kitchen in just a few steps.
Have you heard about our 18-volt system yet? It offers a huge variety of devices for many different applications. The thing that makes the project below so special is that you can use the same rechargeable battery for every part of this project. Simply swap out the battery pack, insert it into a different device that’s part of the 18-volt system, and move on to the next step.
It should go without saying that your safety is paramount at every stage of the project. Make sure you take the necessary precautions to protect yourself. You can find everything you need to know about the protective clothing you need for each type of tool in our guide.
Saw and sand the wooden panels
Let’s get this project started with a bit of sawing.
Be sure to get enough wooden panels from your local DIY store so that you can saw according to the measurements in the list of materials. Of course, it’s up to you if you want to make your mud kitchen bigger or smaller. Make sure to measure everything according to how you scale it and think about how much material you need.
Using a thin wooden plank, mark the measurements on the wooden panels (image 1) and in order to evenly saw all wooden parts, it’s best to use a hand-held circular saw (image 2).
Have you managed to saw everything? Then, sand down the cut edges (Figure 3).
If you’re working with the 18V system from Bosch, you can simply use the battery from the hand-held circular saw and start sanding.
Preparing the basin for installation
In order for your mud kitchen to also have a basin for water, it needs to be installed into the wooden board of the large storage area.
First, measure the dimensions of your paint tray (note: the inner edge) and mark the measured rectangle on the wooden panel. You can use a simple wooden plank to help make sure all the pencil lines are as straight as possible.
We have placed the basin such that it has a 60 mm distance to the front and side edges.
Next, use a NanoBlade saw to make a plunge cut into the marking and saw out the rectangle (image 1).
Before you can install the basin, you probably need to remove the plastic feet from one of the sides (image 2). This is done best with a multi-function tool.
Preparing the mount for the canister
Later on, a water canister will be secured to the back panel of the mud kitchen. In order for it to be properly secured with bungee cords, in this step, you need to saw two more small grooves on the upper edge of the back panel.
However, before you begin sawing, drill a hole for each small groove using a Brad point drill bit – approximately 40 mm away from the edge (image 1). Now, mark two lines, one to the right and one to the left of the hole (image 2) and saw along each groove (image 3).
Using a multi-function tool, you can increase the size of the opening of the canister so that later it can be filled up more easily.
Assemble the individual parts
In the final step, you screw together all the prepared wooden pieces (A-E) from steps 1 to 3. To find out which piece goes where, refer to our diagram (image 1).
Make sure to place the small squared timbers from the bottom in the correct places (image 2). Your mud kitchen won’t be stable otherwise.
Now, let’s turn to the structure and attach the back panel of the mud kitchen (image 3).
Once you have put the basin and the canister in their rightful places, you can finally get started with the messy play. Have fun!