Family Home Evening: Stone Soup

One of my kiddos gave an awesome lesson where we acted out the story "Stone Soup".  If you are not familiar with the story; a traveler enters a small village hoping to find someone willing to share their meal.  He quickly discovers the villagers don't have any food to spare, they seem to be lacking variety of food themselves - one has mostly carrots, while another has mostly potatoes.  The traveler pulls a smooth, round rock from his backpack and proclaims it is a magic stone that will make enough soup for everyone.  He borrows a large pot of water and places it over a fire in the center of the village.  With his stone simmering away, he tastes it and declares it's pretty good, but it would be even better if it had potatoes.  The  villager with the potatoes brings some for the soup, the same thing happens with the carrots and so on, until everyone has contributed what they have and a the soup really is delicious.  The village is not only physically fed, but emotionally fed by the bonds of friendship built over good food with their neighbors.


This story was tied into the first experience from Good Works in the Personal Progress book.  When family members brought their contribution to the soup, they also read a scripture.  At the end of the story, it was pointed out how we benefit each other's lives when we work together toward a common goal.  We were encouraged to record in our journal acts of service we notice others doing for two weeks. 


Our activity was a game of Uno Attack.  Our treat was Frozen Lemon Pie - yummy!