Soup Kitchen Pretend Play

As a mom I want to teach my children that it is important to give to others. I try to get them involved in simple service acts and acts of kindness to teach them early there are a lot of ways to give. You can donate food or just make a card and give it to a loved one. No matter how big or small that one kind act is, it impacts the life of another. Soup Kitchen Pretend Play is a great way to let the kids practice giving and have fun too.

One afternoon I set out to explain a soup kitchen and how giving our time to help feed others was a kind act and way to help our communities. My children are 1-5.5yr. My older boys understood the concept of cooking soup for others. My youngest tot was just eager to play. After a brief conversation about soup kitchens we set out to play.

What we used:

• Orange Scented Water Beads – take water beads place in water. Add orange extract for scent. NOTE: WATER BEADS ARE NOT EDIBLE! My children are supervised while playing.
• play kitchen dishes…
• pretend play aprons and hats
• water
• sprinkles
• plastic ice

What we did:

I made a simple sign reading SOUP KITCHEN and taped it to our playhouse outside. We brought out all the dishes and put on the play aprons. We set up the picnic table for the guests of the soup kitchen to eat.   The water beads would have gotten large if they had left them to grow in the water but they could not wait to play.

The kids cooked soup for each other and soup for me.  The scented water beads and sprinkle soup was a hit at the pretend soup kitchen.

We had a lot of fun playing and even learning about the importance of giving to others.  Hands on learning is always a hit at my house.  We hope you  can have fun and learn as well for this activity.