You may be confused if your school aged student talks about soup with rocks i it. If so, the story of Stone Soup is one you want to learn. Making Stone Soup is an educational event which teaches the concept of working for the greater good. The story of Stone Soup is a fable from French lore and has several variationshttp://www.dltk-teach.com/fables/stonesoup/mtale.htm some with a traveling stranger and others with soldiers and war veterans. This guide page provides information on how to make stone soup.

The story of Stone Soup illustrates the power of community engagementhttp://tamarackcommunity.ca/g4s21.html. It is a reminder of the importance of generosity and can be used by parents and teachers in lesson plans and life lessons for children.

While younger children may focus on how adding ingredients make the soup better, older children can learn a valuable lesson from making stone soup and trying to understand what the feeling of hunger and having no way of feeding themselves must feel like

To incorporate the Stone Soup story into a life lesson for children, parents and teachers can read the story as a part of daily reading lessons with children. Once the story is read, discussions on what might be added to the soup can lead into topics about how to build a community food pantry, how to help feed the homeless, how to make a meal from a few food itemshttp://www.onekama.k12.mi.us/e2002/scatanes/soup/stone.htm Each of these topics can lead into a project to teach the children how to make stone soup.

The main ingredient the children will want to see is the stone which goes in the soup. You may choose either quartz which will not break part when boiled, or choose a stone which you wash and boil ahead of time before adding to your classroom or family stone soup. Begin the soup with a large pot of water and let the children watch while you add your stone to the mix. When discussing natural foods, or how to survive when homeless you may discuss what may be added from nature like herbs, or edible leaves. Children can also learn of hazards of eating unknown wild foods through this lesson also. Once your pot of stone soup broth has been created, the class can be invited to add their items to the soup.

The day before reading the story to the group, send home a request for an ingredient donation for each child to contribute to the soup. It is a good idea to have a few spare ingredients on hand so those who forget to bring items can participate. Depending on the size of the class you may choose to make two pots of stone soup. Having different pots will show how contributions from different people produce different results. Consider retelling the story as the ingredients go into the pot. Choose one child to be the stranger in the story with the stone, and be the narrator. Since children will be adding ingredients to the pot, the soup should not cook until after the ingredients are in and the cooking area secured to prevent burns. Once all the ingredients are added, boil the soup until contents are tender and serve in bowls.

The list of ingredients is endless as the story implies. The soup is formed from the additions of what each person has to contribute. Some suggested items to add to the soup includehttp://familyfun.go.com/recipes/stone-soup-678147/:

• Potatoes
• Onion
• Garlic
• Leftover beef
• Celery
• Carrots
• Seasonings
• Pasta