At Pt Chevalier Kindergarten we had a vision for the part of our outdoor area which was once a garden room. Our dream to turn the space into a mud kitchen became reality thanks to our whānau.

Whanaungatanga – having a sense of family connection, created through shared experiences, working together and providing people with a sense of belonging – is so strong at our kindergarten. 

Our whānau are the major driving force behind many projects. Their amazing fundraising efforts meant we could invest in two New Zealand made mud kitchens and a water feature! Now we have a marvellous mud kitchen for the tamariki.

The mud kitchen style environment promotes role play amongst tamariki and it’s not uncommon to see them taking on the role of a chef in a restaurant kitchen or mum and dad cooking at home. 

We are noticing excitement in tamariki to explore the outdoor environment as they feel the different textures and consistency of mud, seeing how this changes as they add more water. 

We would like to acknowledge our whānau and thank them for their generosity.  A special thanks to Sam who is our co-chairperson and her whānau for making the mud kitchen dream possible by providing all the resources needed for this project such as mud, and the people who worked tirelessly to get the job done.