Nature Play: Mud Ice Creamery

Making MUD ice creams is going to get messy, let’s face it, but when kids get messy it usually means that they’re going to have a VERY GOOD time with a mud ice creamery!

For those of you who hate mess – try to let it go just this once – setting up this nature play space is going to be totally worth it. Promise!

First, I’ll go through what you need to set up the mud ice creamery, then I’m going to show you just how much fun we had. Best of all, the clean-up won’t be as bad as you think!

What you’ll need for the mud ice creamery:

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• A place that can get a bit messy (mud kitchen or somewhere in your backyard)
• A container filled with dirt
• Ice cream scoop utensil
• Ice cream cones
• A few containers or small bowls
• Flowers, leaves and a hole punch to make the toppings

Make mud and nature ice creams

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1.  Make the toppings. Before you set the kids loose on the mud ice creamery, you’ll need to make some lovely ice cream toppings.  We made ours by pulling off flower petals, cutting grass and hole-punching leaves. They’ll enjoy filling little containers with ‘sprinkles’ for their very own mud ice cream creations.
2. Set up the mud ice creamery.  Set up the nature play space so it’s easy for your children to see what’s available to them. 
3.  Let them play. There’s no process required for the remainder of the activity other than letting your kids get a little messy and a little wild. They’re going to love it!

My girls had so much fun adding dirt to the ice cream cones. They rolled the dirt around with their utensils and squished it into the cone like they’d seen happen at ice cream shops all their life. We’re all a little fond of ice cream in this family.

Watch the video

The most time was spent decorating the mud ice creams.  They were building fine motor skills as they pinched and sprinkled the toppings on the ice creams. I let them have three ice cream cones and they each made three very different ice creams.

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Check out these other amazing mud play ideas

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We also had some leftover flowers and the girls thought they would make nice ice creams too. They weren’t wrong. Aren’t they gorgeous!

Nature play is so easy to clean too. I just hosed the mud and sprinkles off the table and viola, clean.  I had to pick up the ice cream cones before that of course,  but other than that, everything else is biodegradable and will add extra nutrients to the soil. Aaaaah, love that about nature play.

Granted, your kids may be a little muddy. Luckily they’re 100% washable! 😉

Setting up the mud ice creamery and cleaning up a little bit of mess was well worth the effort. The girls played with this nature play space on and off all day and have since asked to do it again.

Go on, create your own mud icecreamery for the kids. They’ll love it!

The Muddy Chef

Whether you intend to build a mud kitchen or set up an inexpensive mud play space in your backyard, The Muddy Chef book will inspire your kids to make the recipes in the book and expand on their own muddy creations. It’s a cookbook but not for making food. Instead, you’ll find muddy recipes like unlickable lasagne, mud and seed cupcakes and nature’s nachos. 

I hope you can now answer the question “What is a mud kitchen?” Your kids will love playing with mud and you will be thrilled by all the learning, creativity, and outdoor play this special backyard play space will promote.