Egg Drop {Alphabet} Soup

Most alphabet books are insultingly boring, as if stuffing letters into children’s heads automatically turns the children into little readers. But, Scott Gustafson’s Alphabet Soup is certainly an exception mainly due to the fact that Gustafson’s illustrations are exceptional.

Most alphabet activities are boring. In fact, my three year old stubbornly refuses to participate in any stuffy alphabetish activity. But, I hope that this activity is an exception, mainly because while learning letters you enjoy an exceptional cooking experience with your preschooler!

“Egg Drop” Alphabet Soup Ingredients

Vegetables, Beans, and Grains that start with different letters of the alphabet (simple consonant sounds are best).  We chose:

• C – Carrots
• B – Beans (Green Beans)
• O – Onions
• T – Turnip Greens
• L – Lentils
• R – Rice
• M – Meat (Chicken)

Plastic Eggs (Jumbo Eggs are best)
Broth (We used chicken.)
Hungry Kids!

“Egg Drop” Alphabet Soup Directions

Ben washes our eggs for “Egg Drop” Alphabet Soup

First, we washed the eggs. I let Ben take charge of the washing, rinsing, and drying. {Are those sharks in the dish water???}

We cut up different vegetables for our “Egg Drop” Alphabet Soup.

Next, we cut up our vegetables and placed them inside plastic eggs. As I prepared the veggies, Ben and I talked about what color they were, whether they grew above ground or under ground, and what they tasted like. Ben tasted and snacked on the raw vegetables while we talked.

Then, we matched the vegetables to their corresponding letters. I would recommend using letter stickers or a marker to mark the outside of the egg, but I already had some letter printouts so we just used those. As we matched the ingredients to their letters, we talked about what the letter looked like and what sound it makes. (Note: Some of your ingredients may not fit perfectly in the eggs so keep a bowl on hand to store any extras.)

After all the eggs were stuffed, I poured the chicken broth into a pot and let Ben “crack” the eggs into the pot. Ben is always wanting to help crack eggs (the real ones), so I thought that this activity would get out some of that creative cooking juice in a mess free way! He enjoyed cracking the eggs so much that I’m sure we will use them again even if we don’t repeat the entire activity.

Once he added all the ingredients, I added my own magic – a little parsley, salt, and pepper. Then, I moved the pot to a back burner and simmered it for 30 minutes. Wow, did it smell good!

And, thirty minutes later we had:

• Learned several letters of the alphabet
• Learned about several vegetables
• Learned how to cook a pot of chicken soup
• Learned how to wash dishes

And, we were happily eating bowls of absolutely delicious homemade soup! {Shhh! My kids never ate turnip greens before, and I don’t think that they hardly noticed!} Definitely, “Egg Drop” Alphabet Soup is an exception to the boring alphabet activity collection!

P.S. If you like Alphabet Soup by Scott Gustafson, have you seen his Classic Fairy Tales? This collection is a personal no-twiddle-twaddle favorite in our home!

This post is linked to:
It’s Playtime
Learn through Play
Living Life Intentionally
Read.Explore.Learn 
Tuesday Tots