Nature Soup Sensory Activity

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This sensory activity from Rachel couldn’t be simpler – no supplies required!

All you need for this Nature Sensory Soup is some items from nature, a few kitchen tools, and water. It is a really fun way to explore nature and is easily tailored to fit your child.

First, you need to collect your nature items for the soup. We took a short walk around our backyard and neighborhood.

If you have a baby or toddler, you can do this step ahead of time. You can also turn this into its own activity if your kids are super into it.

The girls collected whatever “ingredients” they wanted for their “soup”. We mostly stuck to weeds, like clover and dandelions, or things that had fallen from trees and bushes. They collected everything in a bag.

Then set up the “kitchen”. I gave the girls a medium plastic storage tub with some water in it. I also gave them a cup to add more water, a ladle, and some plastic bowls.

For little ones or kids who don’t like getting wet, you can use a shallow pie pan or just give them less water. You can also add extra tools or supplies here, like these fun pipettes (affiliate link), strainers or food dye. We kept it simple because I was going for a zero-supply activity and wanted them to focus on the sensory aspects.

When the supplies were ready, they dumped the bag of nature items and got to work. They added some “ingredients” whole and tore others into smaller pieces. There was also lots of stirring with the sticks they collected. After a bit, they decided it needed more “broth”.

Then it was ready to be served up and “tasted”. Again, and again, and again. That’s always a sign of a successful activity for me!

As I expected, it ended up as water play with lots of splashing and dumping. Lots!

You can control this aspect a bit, if you want, by giving them less water to work with. But it definitely keeps them happy for longer if they can splash! I had some towels on standby, and they just needed a quick wardrobe change afterwards.

I love watching my kids work through an open-ended activity like this. At first, they were really focused on the pretend-play aspect. They were chefs in a restaurant discussing their recipe. They got more and more into it, which meant getting sillier and sillier, but also meant getting all of their senses involved. I love when such a simple activity has so many layers!

Do you have a favorite zero-supply activity? Share it below!

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