All About The Kids: Outside Soup

It's SOOOOO hot and humid here right now, but I'm still trying to get the kids (especially Hudson) outside for a least a little while everyday. I've been pinning ideas on Pinterest and just browsing blogs for simple ideas that don't require too much energy. I've also been trying to think back to when I was a kid to remember the creative/imaginative things we would come up with when we were bored.

One of my memories involved making "outside soup" or "nature soup" using everything we found in the yard. We would fill a bucket or bowl with hose water and wander the yard in search of ingredients. It would entertain us for hours. We would make a soup play for a while, dump it out and make a new soup. So much fun!

I figured that it would be a fun activity for Hudson to do this morning while Harper was taking her morning nap before if got too hot outside. We filled his bucket about 1/4 way up with water and then went searching for as many different "ingredients" as we could find in our backyard.

Here is a list to give you an idea of what could be added, but the list could go on and on depending on your surroundings. So many possibilities!

Outside Soup Ingredients

twigs

grass

leaves

dirt/mud

acorns

pinecones

clovers

dandelions

pebbles

bark

wild strawberries

(We have some of these growing in our yard. Bad for our yard, but awesome for outside soup!)

flower petals

moss

crabapples

seeds

Hudson had so much fun hunting around, adding and stirring the ingredients! We left it outside in the sun to "cook" and he goes out to stir it every couple hours. I tried to incorporate as many different things as possible, as well as, tried to make it as colorful as possible. It was even kind of fun for me and brought back a lot of memories!

So there you have it! A simple outdoor activity to keep those kids busy and keep their imaginations working!

Have a great weekend and stay cool!