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My daughter just made me the most “delicious” pie – it was chocolate with chocolate chunks, otherwise know as a mud pie! -- Mother of three, Chicago, IL
Outdoor free-standing sink set designed to mix and play with mud. The sink has a plunger faucet that really works and a mud-mixer with a large crank to stir your batter. Several accessories are included to assist in makin’ mud pies.
Approx. Price: $39.99 Box Age Range: 2+ yrs # of Pieces: 6-10 Washability: Surface Wipe Storability: Bulky Directions: Simple Play Locations: Outdoor Adjustability: None Levels of Play: Beginner and Advanced Batteries: None needed
Tactilely Stimulating
Inviting Due to Uniqueness
Open-ended
Innovative
Can Be Used Independently or w/Others
Promotes Active Play
Hands-on Approach to Learning
Provides Pretend Play Opportunities
Simple
Fosters Imagination/Promotes Creativity
Developmental processes promoted
Visual Attention
Memory and Recall
Cause and Effect
Action Concepts e.g. In/Out, Push/Pull, On/Off, Go/Stop
The mixer and crank handle allows children to play with mud without needing to touch it to their skin.
The large plunger for the faucet is easy to feel and use by touch.
This primarily tactile activity can be accessed and enjoyed by children with low vision.
Skills
Sensory stimulation is a part of play when children use their hands to feel and squeeze mud through their fingers.
Learn descriptive words to describe the look and feel of the mud.
Play Ideas
Push mud through the strainer tray to make “smooth” mud and feel the difference between that mud and mud that is lumpy.
Add your own embellishments. For example, use plastic play food and pretend you have just harvested it from your garden and need to wash it off in the sink.
Adaptation Ideas
For children who are tactilely defensive, have them wear rubber gloves during play or provide long-handled spoons for stirring and mixing fun.
This toy is large enough for two children to play, but is small and requires children to play physically close to one another during play.
Skills
Turn taking, sharing and patience are incorporated into play with this set.
The mud and other accessories, both included and your own, provide sensory stimulation through a child’s touch.
Cleaning up is a skill that can be reinforced after play is done for the day. Dry dirt caked on accessories and in bowls can be seen as a consequence of not cleaning up.
Problem solving skills emerge when children figure out what to do if the water doesn’t come out or if the mixer won’t spin because the mud is too thick.
Pretend play is fostered by tangible play of working the faucet, spinning the mixer and using the other accessories.
Play Ideas
Children can use this set as the backdrop to act out pretend play storylines.
Pretend you are an ogre and this is your kitchen.
Include children in play by saying such sentences as, “My mud in the mixer is too thick. Can you add some water for me?” This helps children begin to interact with another person and works on receptive language skills.
Use simple words to verbally describe a child’s actions. Some words that can be used are push, pour, turn, and squish.
Work together to create one final product, such as one mud pie.
Add words to sprinkle language into tactile play.
Ask open ended questions such as, “What are you making?” to encourage thought and verbal exchange.
The size of the unit is good for play and not cumbersome for storage.
There are enough accessories to start the play without providing too much to squelch imagination and creativity.
Skills
Children begin to learn cause and effect through play as they pump the plunger to get water and turn the crank to spin the mixer.
Problem solving skills emerge when children figure out what to do if the water doesn’t come out or if the mixer won’t spin because the mud is too thick.
Pretend play is fostered by tangible play of working the faucet, spinning the mixer and using the other accessories.
Children learn to follow pictorial directions to use the recipe cards and make mud pies. The recipe cards also help children sequence steps to complete a task.
Children can learn simple properties of the sun and how it plays a role in drying mud pies.
Cleaning up is a skill that can be reinforced after play is done for the day. Dry dirt caked on accessories and in bowls can be seen as a consequence of not cleaning up.
Play Ideas
Children can use this set as the backdrop to act out pretend play storylines.
The bottom of the bowl has an inset square and the base of the mixer area has a raised square for the bowl to nest over. This provides added stability for successful mixing.
The plunger on the sink is large and can be pushed with a whole hand.
The crank on the mixer is large enough for a child to use a whole hand grasp, rather than a refined pincer grasp.
The mixer is tall on the table and the crank is on the top. This helps a child who is in a wheelchair access and play successfully with this component.
The crank on the mixer turns smoothly. Note: If the mud is too hard or thick to use the mixer, add more water. For children who have limited muscle strength, use only water in the mixer for less resistance.
Play can take place standing or kneeling next to the set, depending on the height and abilities of the children.
Skills
Children use two hands cooperatively to hold and pour mud from the bowl.
Manual skills and wrist rotation are used to scoop, pour, mix, etc.
Arm and hand strength are used to push the plunger to pump water out.
Bilateral coordination is used to hold the mixer head down with one hand and crank with the other.
Reaching and arm extension is used to turn the crank on the mixer.
Children begin to learn cause and effect through play as they pump the plunger to get water and turn the crank to spin the mixer.
Play Ideas
Work together to create one final product, such as one mud pie. This may help children who have physical limitations to access parts of the play while allowing others to help.
Push mud through the strainer tray to make “smooth” mud and feel the difference between that mud and mud that is lumpy.
