Back to the Imaginarium
Ages 1–5Whimsical
Alphabet Soup
A first course in wonder, built letter by letter.
Our first theme dinner for the very young is Alphabet Soup. During your planning week you'll work with chosen letters and center your final dinner around them. Activities are planned for each day that children can do while you prepare each meal — a gentle way to keep little ones happily occupied with very little set-up.
Take breaks when needed according to the attention span of your children and your own. When this endeavor becomes a chore, the positive aspects of learning are lost. The point is to bond and learn surprising things from, and with, your family.
Watch & Learn
Gather Your Supplies
The Provisions
Props
- Crayons and blank paper (for placemats)
- Cardboard or poster-board to cut out letters for the centerpiece
- Tissue paper, scrap colored paper and glue — or crayons or paint — to decorate your centerpiece
- Accessories to wear that begin with the letters you choose
- Homemade play dough (store-bought works too)
- Paper and pens for the menu
Recipes & Food
- Scrabble Cheez-Its
- Breadstick dough, shaped into letters
- Alphabet soup
- Foods that begin with your letters
- Ketchup and sauces to "draw" letters on plates
- Soft fruit to carve letters out of (banana, ripe cantaloupe or watermelon)
- Cookie dough or jello
Language & Music
- Use as many words as possible that begin with your chosen letter
- Make up silly alliterative rhymes with your letter(s)
- Sing the alphabet song, or make up your own letter song
- Learn the ASL signs for your letters
- Read from the Sound Box Books by Jane Belk Moncure
Peripherals
- Task worksheet to post on the fridge
- Kids' Scrabble (buy or make your own)
- PBS Learning Letters games
- Hidden letter / hidden word puzzles and simple crosswords
- Alliterative worksheet for silly sentences
Your Week of Wonder
The Five-Day Itinerary
1
Monday
Brainstorm & Puzzle
- Choose 1–3 letters — from a name, drawn from a bowl, or simply A, B & C. Lay them out and have the kids do an age-appropriate letter puzzle while you finish dinner.
- During dinner, brainstorm foods that begin with your letters for the final dinner. Choose one side dish to eat on days 2–4 that corresponds to a letter (apples for A on Tuesday, strawberries for S on Wednesday, knishes for K on Thursday).
- If your kids can write, let them list every food you dream up — then vote, or tear into pieces and draw from a bowl. Record your choices on the Team Tasks worksheet.
2
Tuesday
Placemats & Task Worksheet
- Block a sheet of paper into 3 squares (one per letter) and write a letter in each. Let the kids practice the letters or draw pictures that start with that letter. For the very young, draw dot-letters underneath to trace.
- During dinner, brainstorm accessories to wear at the final dinner that start with the chosen letters. Record them on the Team Tasks worksheet, and note who will make anything that needs crafting.
3
Wednesday
Centerpiece & ASL
- Cut matching letter shapes from cardboard and let each child decorate one — crayons, washable paint, or balled-up tissue paper glued all over. Let the art dry overnight, then attach the tops together at an angle into a letter-pyramid centerpiece.
- Make something with a dipping sauce (ketchup, mustard, dressing) and draw letters on the edges of the plate with it. Older kids can decorate the plates themselves.
- During dinner, go over the ASL hand signs for your letters.
4
Thursday
Shape Letters & Alliteration
- Cover the table in newspaper and set out play dough. Help the kids shape letters; if you make your own dough, bake the letters to use as props for the final dinner.
- During dinner, come up with nouns, verbs and adjectives that start with your letters. Use the alliterative worksheet to build silly sentences.
- If energy remains, read from your Sound Box Books, play a letter game online, or try Kids' Scrabble.
5
Friday
The Final Theme Dinner
- From the moment you enter the kitchen, you are in your letter-world. Use every prop you've made, wear your accessories, and speak in alliteration as much as you dare.
- Serve the alphabet menu you planned together — letter breadsticks, alphabet soup, fruit carved into letters, and sauces drawn into shapes on the plate.
- Play a letter game, read a Sound Box book aloud, or make up a story together about a person whose name begins with your letter who visits your table. Make the evening last. Be a family.
