Preschool Storytime: Soup

In the colder months, I just love a hot bowl of soup. This session was pushed back one week due to a snow day closure, so I was extra prepared… One thing that was a challenge, though, is that so many of the songs and rhymes are presenting the same info. How to make soup, the steps involved, the motions of stirring and adding to a pot. I did my best to mix it up but it still felt a little repetitive to me as I was presenting. Perhaps I should have just cut a couple activities and made it shorter overall.

You can see the virtual program that does not include the full books read aloud here.

Early Literacy Tip: Some songs tell a story or have a logical sequence, like “Make the Soup.” Children learn what comes next. Recounting an event using a song helps them understand how narrative works and helps break down tasks step by step. Try adapting this to another task, like getting dressed or getting ready for bed.

Welcome Song: We Clap and Sing Hello

Discussion: When it’s cold outside, a hot bowl of soup sounds really tasty! It helps to warm you up, and there are so many kinds. What kinds of soup can you think of?

Action Rhyme: Stir the Soup
Stir the soup in the pot,
Oh, boy, it’s really hot
Stir it fast, really fast
Stir it really, really slow
Stir it high, stir it low
It’s still hot, let’s blow
Stir it fast like you should.
I think it’s done! Mmmmmmmm! It’s good!
Credit: Johnson County (KS) Library

Have you ever helped make soup from scratch? Let’s see what it takes. I also provided a scan of the soup recipe from the back of this book in my take-home packets.
Read: Soup Day by Melissa Iwai

Action Song: Make the Soup
(tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush)
Come and help me make the soup
make the soup, make the soup
Come and help me make the soup
One cold and frosty evening

Additional verses:
First you put the pot on the stove …
Then you pour the water in …
This is the way we add some veggies …
This is the way we stir the pot …
Now it’s time to take a sip …
Credit: Johnson County (KS) Library

Action Song: The Soup is Boiling Up
(tune of The Farmer in the Dell)
The soup is boiling up (hands corkscrew up)
The soup is boiling up
Stir it slow, around we go (stir)
The soup is boiling up
Sub kinds of soup: chili, daal, ramen, noodles, etc.
Credit: Jbrary

Read: Soup for One by Ethan Long

You can do this one as a fingerplay or by adding green pompoms to a play pot. When the peas “jump” out of the pot, they’ll go everywhere and cause some giggles. If you’re doing this one in person, you can give each child a “pea” and count up as many peas/kiddos as you have.
Fingerplay: Pea Soup
(begin with five fingers up)
One little pea jumped into the pot,
And waited for the soup to get hot (fold one finger down)

(count down)
Finally, the soup got so very, very hot,
That all the little peas jumped out of the pot!
(open hand jumps)
Credit: Librarian is on the Loose blog

Action Song: I Feel Crazy, So I Jump in the Soup
I feel crazy so I jump in the soup
I feel crazy so I jump in the soup
I feel crazy so I jump in the soup
I jump jump jump in the soup

Additional verses:
…swim…gallop…splash…sit…
Credit: Laurie Berkner, from the album “Victor Vito”

Read: Is That Wise, Pig? by Jan Thomas

Who likes alphabet soup? It’s fun to see if you can spell words or just find certain letters. Let’s sing our ABCs!
Song: ABCs

Ukulele Song: Noodles in My Soup
(tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It)
There are noodles, noodles, noodles in my soup
There are noodles, noodles, noodles in my soup
There are oodles, oodles, oodles
Of the most delicious noodles
There are noodles, noodles, noodles in my soup
(repeat with other soup ingredients, but keep 3rd & 4th lines)
Credit: Librarian is on the Loose blog

Craft: Alphabet Soup
Construction paper soup bowl! This was pretty easy – I asked a volunteer to cut out circles and spoons, and provided a generous snack-sized bag of Alpha-bits cereal to glue down and snack on. (I provided a copy of the nutrition facts and ingredient list from the box so caregivers knew exactly what was in the cereal.) Kids were encouraged to draw the soup ingredients that they like in addition to adding the cereal.
Warning! Alpha-bits cereal is NOT made the way it used to be, it seems. All of my pieces were very puffy and misshapen, and I could only identify a couple of actual letters – maybe an A, I, D, L, maybe a weird E or F. It was very disappointing. You may have better luck with actual dry alphabet noodles (though that doesn’t have the added benefit of being a snack on the side).

I also booktalked these alternative titles during the permanent YouTube video.
Every Color Soup by Jorey Hurley
Perfect Soup by Lisa Moser & Ben Mantle
A Soup Opera by Jim Gill & David Moose

Closing Rhyme: Tickle the Stars

This storytime was presented virtually on 2/23/21.

Storytime Handout: