January is National Soup Month, and what better way to celebrate than with a SOUP-er storytime?  (See what I did there?)

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Can’t Wait to Celebrate” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem by Jim Gill

BOOK:

The Wolf’s Chicken Stew by Keiko Kasza

FINGERPLAY:
Pea Soup
(hold hand up with all five fingers extended)
1 little pea jumped into the pot (fold one finger down)
And waited for the soup to get hot.
2 little peas jumped into the pot (fold one finger down)
And waited for the soup to get hot.
3 little peas jumped into the pot (fold one finger down)
And waited for the soup to get hot.
4 little peas jumped into the pot (fold one finger down)
And waited for the soup to get hot.
5 little peas jumped into the pot (fold one finger down)
And waited for the soup to get hot.
Finally the soup got so very hot
All the little peas jumped out of the pot. (quickly open hand and extend all fingers.)

FLANNELBOARD:
Soup from a Nail

Template and Story from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra

This is a different take on Stone Soup, using a nail instead of a stone as the “magical” ingredient.

MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi

PROP SONG:

Stir, Stir, Stir the Soup
(To tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”)
Stir, stir, stir the soup
Stir it all day long.
Add some (insert food name here),
Take a taste (slurrrp!)
Soup will make us strong. (flex arm)

I bought some plush foods from IKEA a while ago, thinking I could incorporate them in some way for storytime, but this was my first time using them.  I had some items from the DUKTIG vegetable set, salmon set, breakfast set, and a small stock pot.  I didn’t have too many kids at storytime today (I had 18 plush foods, so I didn’t want to pass them out if I had more kids present than that), so I handed each child a different ingredient for the soup.  We sang the song, and then each child got to come up and drop their ingredient into the pot.

VIDEO:

“Chicken Soup with Rice” from Where the Wild Things Are … and other Maurice Sendak stories

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Soup Day by Melissa Iwai
Book: 10 Hungry Rabbits by Anita Lobel (this would also make a great flannelboard)
Book: Chicken Soup by Jean Van Leeuwen
Book: Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
DVD: “Martha Speaks” from Reading Rainbow (or the book…)

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
I love soup storytime.  I was surprised that I only used one book this time, but Stir the Soup took longer than I thought it was.  It seemed to work alright.  I also had a back-up song (“Clean/Open the Fridge”) to use in case I had a lot of kids there.  At the end of “Stir the Soup”, when all the veggies were in, I ad libbed something about “eat, eat, eat the soup”  but it wasn’t very good.  I’ll have to come up with a more satisfying ending. I LOVE The Wolf’s Chicken Stew, it always gets a giggle at the end of storytime.

ATTENDANCE: 30 (adults and children)

*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page