Nature Soup

When presented with a container of water for sensory play our kids made one of my favorite recipes from when I was a child. They cooked up Nature Soup! This post is part of our monthly Sensory Bin Challenge.

Each month we are presenting our kids with a a bin containing an easily accessible sensory material and nothing else to see what they add with their imaginations! Sensory play doesn't require a lot of prep work. In fact sometimes kids come up with the most creative ideas on their own.

Toddler D can hardly believe his eyes! "Large containers of water for us to explore? Are you serious?!" He just loves water!

Do you see the drops dripping down his face? Naturally, he had to test the temperature and splash around for a bit.

Next my own two kids plus our favorite neighbors began gathering ingredients to add to the water. The children wanted to make soup! They foraged for berries, flowers, peanut shells (from our snack), grass, leaves, and sticks for stirring!

They filled other bottles with water for pouring and dumping practice. Picking ingredients, adding water, and stirring was all excellent fine motor work!

The cooking process was amazing to sit back and observe. Four kids from ages one to six were completely engaged and collaborating!

They decided that they needed some "real" kitchen tools. We gathered bowls, ladles, spoons, and a tray for sorting their ingredients.

By the time the soup was ready they were taking our orders and serving up portions. They had been playing for two hours! Meanwhile we adults has actual uninterrupted conversations! We will add this activity to our favorites list because we'll be repeating it often!

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