Garden Worm Soup

[60 Minutes]

Get your child involved with dinner tonight by preparing a garden vegetable soup with worm-shaped noodles!

You'll need:

• 1 cup carrots • small onion • 1/2 cup celery • dried parsley (dash) • 1 cup potato • 2 quarts water • seasoned chicken stock or chicken bouillon cube dissolved in water • 1 cup skinny noodles • 6-quart cooking pot • knife (ADULT USE ONLY) • measuring cup

What to do:

1. Invite your child to scrub the vegetables. Talk about their shapes and colors.
2. As you chop the vegetables, have her measure the amounts in the measuring cup and place in a pot with 2 quarts of cold water.
3. Let her add the chicken stock or flavoring.
4. Bring the soup to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. When the vegetables are tender, add the noodles and cook for an additional 13 minutes.
6. Serve and enjoy!

How to use:

1. As the soup cooks, teach your child this song to go along with your garden worm soup. (Tune: "The Farmer In The Dell"):

2. Oh! Squiggly, wiggly worms,
   Make tunnels in the ground.
   Squiggle, wiggle, squiggly worms,
   Are squirming all around.

Let's Talk: Ideas to Explore Together.

• What vegetables did we put in the soup?
• What do the skinny noodles look like?
• Where do vegetables grow?

Useful information:

While you are cooking together, this activity provides experiences for developing concepts related to measurement, and following directions.