Nature Soup
Sometimes the best activities just sort of happen. On a bike ride home from the library, my 3 year old wanted to pick some “flowers” (they were mainly weeds in the cracks of the sidewalk). I have been practicing saying yes to easy requests, so we ended up with a fistful of droopy blooms.
The plan was to get the littlest one down for a nap and enjoy a water activity for Water Wednesday, but she REALLY wanted to use the flowers for “a fun activity”. Nature soup was born in the 5 minutes it took me to get everyone inside, so this can be a last-minute activity at your house as well.
Here’s what you need
Sensory bin- I love 15 L storage containers for these activities. They are used almost every day and are fantastic for sensory play, containing messes, and even packing toys for a vacation. See more uses here.
Utensils/whisk/measuring cups- whatever you can find in your kitchen will do the trick. The older girls have been having issues with sharing and turn taking, so I intentionally only added one slotted spoon, one bowl, one mason jar, one whisk, and one small scoop. Sometimes they don’t even notice my attempts at cooperation, but today they asked for an extra spoon. I explained that these were the only tools we were getting out today, and they worked it out. (Note: we have practiced a lot on scripts to use in this situation. It doesn’t always go well, so I’ll count it as a win today!) The whisk is always a hit for mixing activities!
Water- today wasn’t overly hot outside, so I used warm water from the kitchen sink to allow a different sensory experience. Usually with large water volume activities, I fill up from the hose outside and the water is cold, but it felt doable for me today to refill a few times. I filled up a large bowl and a large mason jar to allow practice with scooping and pouring. Again, I like clear containers and try to vary the material, weight, shape, and size of the vessel in some way.
Nature- they started off with flowers, but quickly added in sticks, grass, weeds, leaves, and spent petals from a rose bush in the yard. They spent 10-15 minutes simply gathering the materials and it was interesting to observe and hear their plans.
Set up
5 minutes active, but I let the kids take however long they wanted gathering nature. We did this outside (I like 1000 Hours Outside and definitely see the benefits of nature time in my children for mood and sleep), but in colder months you could do this inside or even in the bathtub/shower.
Fill bowl/jar with water.
Collect nature and place in sensory bin.
Let them make soup, dinner, a potion, cake, or tea!
Clean up
2 minutes
Separate out the leaves/petals/sticks. I like to keep a sieve handy for this part. We put our nature materials into our garden beds, but you could easily throw this away. The kids actually cleaned up by themselves while I was getting dinner ready.
Clean utensils (dishwasher for ease if available) and bins (soap and water in the sink works best for me).
I think the novelty of the nature material was exciting for them because they played with this activity for an hour. I thought it might be a 5-10 minute thing (totally OK if that is your experience) and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to step away after 30 minutes.
This lasted long enough that the youngest one could join in at the end. I gave the baby an empty container of water, a scoop, and a pastry brush at first. She loved splashing in the water and quickly figured out how to dump it onto herself! She was entertained for a while, but was soon much more interested in the pouring and mixing happening nearby.
It always fills my heart with such contentment when everyone is cooperative and engaged. It’s a feeling I’m not sure I experienced before having 2 children.
I hope you are able to make Nature Soup with your little one(s). What kind of nature would you add in? Comment below if you try this easy clean up activity.
