This mud kitchen is on the expensive side, but as it’s so big and durable we thought it was ideal for big families or even childcare settings.

With two activity areas – a dry zone and a wet zone (note: children will never keep any zone dry for long when water play is involved), this mud kitchen is really well thought out. The wood is reasonable quality (though we'd recommend another coat of wood varnish) and assembly is super-easy: good, clear instructions and the parts fit snugly together.Good mud kitchens are also sturdy and robust – and easy to wash down once the last mud pie is served. They rely on a number of sources, including our testing during the MadeForMums awards and feedback from our home testing panel and Top Testers Club. It's a little basic compared to some of the other mud kitchens on this list, since it doesn't have a working tap or fake oven.

One word of warning is that this kitchen did take a while to put together – one person took the best part of three hours to finish the job. Keep in mind that anyone can view public collections - they may also appear in recommendations and other places.The key ingredient is of course mud, but can also include other foraged and found natural resources such as sticks, gravel, stones, herbs, flowers, plants and weeds.