Making Stone Soup

This week we celebrated our annual Stone Soup Day with our home school co-op.  This is becoming a much-loved tradition with our group of little ones and parents.  We always do Stone Soup in November, shortly before Thanksgiving.  It is such a wonderful story to hear as we contemplate gratitude for the gifts of our food and generosity in sharing with others.  There are many different versions of the story, and probably as many ways to "do" Stone Soup with a group.  I have a very simple version that I tell from memory, and as I tell the story the children tell it with me and we act it out together.  This is how our Stone Soup Day went this year...

Thanks to Mandy for some of the photos!

Everyone was asked in advance to bring something to contribute to the soup...veggies (washed, but not prepped), grains and beans (cooked), pasta, etc.   

As usual, I had bread dough ready for little hands to knead and shape as everyone arrived.  It's a wonderful, calming way to enter into the social situation for the little ones, and bread goes great with soup!  More on the bread in my next post, when I share my go-to bread recipe.  

Once our bread was shaped and placed on pans to rise, we began circle time.  Besides our usual verses, the candle verse/finger play we did this week was a huge hit...

Ten tall candles stand in a row (hold up ten fingers), burn so bright till the wind starts to blow, then (blow) goes the wind, and out one will go!  (Ask the children how many are left now.)  Nine tall candles stand in a row, burn so bright till Jonah starts to blow, then (Jonah blows) Jonah goes, and out one will go!  Repeat in this fashion, using a different child's name each time until there are no more candles.

At the end of circle time I explained that they were going to help tell the story today, and that it was Stone Soup Day.  They were asked to get the items they brought to contribute to the soup and have a seat around the circle table. 

 Then we began the story.  It went something like this (though I never tell it exactly the same)...

"Once upon a time there was a traveler journeying across the countryside.  His clothes were worn, he carried a heavy pack, and as he had been traveling for a long time, he was very tired and very hungry.  He was also rather upbeat and optimistic by nature, and he believed he would find a place to get some nourishment soon.  At last he came upon a little village on the edge of a wood, where he hoped he might find a bite to eat and a place to rest a while.  (I walk around while telling this part, acting the part of a tired and hungry traveler.)

The traveler walked up to the first house he saw, and knocked on the door.  (I choose a child and walk up to them, pretending to knock on their door.)  The door opened a little, and a woman looked out, a little warily.  "Good day Ma'm, would you happen to have a little food to spare for a tired traveler such as myself?"  (The child usually giggles and says "no".)  "No, I hardly have anything to feed myself, and nothing to spare," says the woman.  The traveler was disappointed, but was not about to give up, so he decided to try the next house.  (I choose another child to walk up to.)  He went up to the house, knocked on the door and a little old man peeked out.  "Kind Sir, I am a traveler on a long journey, and I am quite hungry and in need of some food.  Do you have anything to spare?"  (This child also says "no", and smiles because he's in on the secret.)  You see, the villagers were rather poor themselves, and felt like they had nothing to share, and besides, they were not very trusting of strangers.

The traveler, however, had an idea for how to get a meal for himself and the whole village.  He walked out into the center of the village and said, "This sure is a fine day for a nice hot pot of stone soup.  Yes indeed, some stone soup would hit the spot today.  Luckily I have my trusty soup kettle with me!  Yes sir, I'll just build a little fire right here, get some water from the well, and with my trusty soup kettle we'll be eating delicious stone soup in no time!"  (As I'm talking I'm acting it out.  I pretend to make a fire with some branch blocks and an orange play silk, and set my pot, already filled with water, on top.)  Now, the villagers were very interested in this stone soup...whoever heard of such a thing, soup from a stone!  They did not yet come out of there houses, but they stood at their doors and peeked out of their windows, waiting to see what would happen next.

"Now", says the traveler, "I just need to find the perfect soup stone..."  (I walk around pretending to look for the perfect stone.  I hold and taste a few, before deciding on one, which happens to be the one I've already cleaned for use.)  "Ah, here we have it, the perfect soup stone!"  "Now, I'll just put this stone in the pot and we'll have stone soup in to time."  (I put the stone in the big pot of water and begin stirring.  After a while I pretend to taste the soup from the big wooden spoon.)  "Ah yes, this is already wonderful!  Just the thing for a day like this!  It is great, but it sure would be better with some carrots.  Yes sir, I wish I had a couple of carrots."  (The children are usually on the edge of their seats, ready to bring what they have to add to the soup, and the ones with carrots come forward right away).  Then, curiosity overcame one of the villagers who was listening at his door, and, he opened his door and said, "Why, I have a couple of carrots, I'll bring them!"  (The children with the carrots happily add them to the big soup pot.  It is OK if they are not cut up, we'll get to that later.  Then I pretend to taste the soup again.)  "Mmm, that is even better!  The only thing that would make this soup better is just a little potatoes.  Yes, potatoes sure would be fine in a soup like this!"  (The children with potatoes come and add them to the pot.  We continue in this fashion until everyone's item has been included.)

This year we had: carrots, parsnips, turnips, kale, pasta, quinoa, seasonings, zucchini, pumpkin, local beef, lentils, and probably something else I'm leaving out.  The children all gather around as the ingredients are placed in the pot.

Time to conclude the story:

At this point, a delicious aroma was coming from the soup pot, and the villagers were amazed that such a soup could have come from a stone.  They ate, and ate, and ate until they were full, and they even had some to take home besides.  The traveler gave the villagers the perfect soup stone, to use in their next batch of stone soup, and he went on his way, good  food in his belly and a happy smile on his face.  The end.

Next, we gather around the table to prep anything that needs it.  This year we took out the carrots, parsnips and turnips for peeling and slicing.  They loved using the peelers and the chopper to get the veggies ready to cook!  They also took the kale leaves off the stems and tore them into pieces.  Then everything went back in the pot and I took it into the kitchen to cook.  I added a little more seasoning, some onion and garlic powder and a few veggies bouillon cubes as well.  The bread went into the oven to bake at the same time.

    

 Then it was playtime for the little ones while the soup cooked.  Most played outside, some played inside.  As soon as the meal was ready, we called everyone in for a delicious lunch of stone soup and bread.

After our meal it was time for closing circle and saying goodbye.  Another super fun Stone Soup celebration! 

Comments

[Sheila Wittmer]

Wonderful story to share and remember always. You Momma's are making learning so much fun and the lessons are very important to everyone, especially the little ones. Thanks for sharing and Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I am thankful for your sharing and all the little ones that will share this story as they grow in years.

[allisoncruse]

Happy Thanksgiving to you as well! It is so much fun to share our adventures with you.

[Lori Leonard]

So much fun! You are great momma's!!! I wish I was there! Happy Thanksgiving!

[allisoncruse]

We certainly do have fun. I know you miss them, but I am so thankful to have your daughter and her family right next door!

[Alison Kitchen]

Allison, thank you so much for sharing this! When I homeschooled we had a wonderful coop as well and those are still some of my closest relationships! I miss those days acutely!

[allisoncruse]

Alison, I did not know you homeschooled...maybe I can hear more about that sometime!