Stone Soup Activities for Kids

I don’t know why I was thinking about this the other day, but one of my favorite times at my daughter’s preschool was when all the families were invited to make stone soup. Stone Soup is a classic story (and there are actually a few different books that tell it from different authors) but the idea is that no one wants to share what they have until someone suggests making stone soup, and then everyone adds what they have to make the soup better, ultimately creating a lovely meal for all to share.

There’s a short version of the story you can print out from Education.com if you don’t have the book version handy.

We literally did this by every family bringing something to add (our contribution was multi-colored carrots), and Rainy Day Mum has a post about doing this with her kiddo, though it’s more fun to do as a group. You can use the “recipe” in the version of the book you read or just have everyone bring a vegetable. They also used a potato as their stone; I think we had a real stone that had been washed and wrapped in foil.

Here’s another recipe from Primary Playground. They also have a free printable coloring page on Teachers Pay Teachers where kids can color in the items that are in their soup. There’s also a paid set of printables on how to make soup with a little book and sequencing activities, which you can use to make soup in class or at home.

Use the science activity from Books and Giggles to make a prediction as to whether soup with a stone in it will taste different from regular soup. This requires two pots but you can start it all in one pot then add some to another pot with a stone in it.

Mrs. Albanese’s Class has free printable vegetable cards you can use when talking about stone soup (and if you don’t want to make real soup in the classroom you can use them for storytelling along with play vegetables).

Susan Jones on Teachers Pay Teachers has a nice set of worksheets kids can use to compare and contrast different versions of the story, make a book about their own soup and more. Check out her blog post about it for all the details.

Do you use stone soup in the classroom or at home? I’d love to hear how you do it!

Last month I shared some tips for teaching the alphabet to kids and why going in alphabetical order isn’t the best way to do it. Honestly a lot of learning at this age has to do with play, so let’s look at some fun alphabet activities that kids can do that will help them learn the alphabet.

Activities that get kids moving and learning at the same time are ideal for preschool, and Forward with Fun has a few great ideas, like this fly swatter letter recognition game (which you could also use for numbers, words, all sorts of things you’re learning) and a beginning sound stomping game.

Another fun alphabet game you can do at home or adapt for wherever you are is this printable alphabet scavenger hunt from Play Party Plan. They’ve got a list of items to find and also a blank printable you can write your own list on, or let kids write down what they find for each letter.

Or do a literal letter scavenger hunt like this one from Happily Ever Mom. This one uses the letters from an alphabet puzzle but you could also use magnet letters or just cut out shapes of letters. It also adds the fun of doing it in the dark and hunting with a flashlight, but you can also do it with the lights on if you want.

This alphabet sensory bottle from Parenting Chaos is made with a set of alphabet beads and would be fun to keep in the classroom or have in the car or for quiet times.

Use what you have to make an alphabet learning activity, like this one made with Duplo blocks from Playtivities. You can stick letters to the sides of blocks (or write them on) and just play with them, use them for letter recognition and talking about sounds, and eventually spelling and reading, too.

Turn letter learning into craft time by making a big letter out of a bunch of little letters with this activity from Meaningful Mama. If you don’t get magazines anymore check with your local Buy Nothing group, or your local library may have some they’re looking to get rid of.

I think most preschoolers love dot markers, so these free alphabet dot marker worksheets from Daydream into Reality would be a great thing to download and print out. This is a great set because it includes uppercase and lowercase letters, and some have letter tracing practice while others include something that starts with that letter that kids can color. Work with one letter at a time or the letters in the child’s name and then provide the whole set as a quiet time activity.

Another great set of alphabet worksheets that isn’t free (and would also be good for older kids) is this set from My Nerdy Teacher. These worksheets include letter tracing and recognition activities, as well as objects to color.

I also love these alphabet roads printables from Messy Little Monster, which kids can use with cars to trace the letters (they could also be playdough mats you use to form the letters in the shape shown, or trace with a dry erase marker).

Have you read?

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