Paper Plate Craft

• You will need a paper bowl, acrylic or tempera paint, a paintbrush, glue and some alphabet cereal. Write the name of the child on the back of the paper bowl and protect your work surface with newspapers. Paint the outer perimeter of the paper bowl and allow it to dry thoroughly. Have the child pick letters out of the alphabet cereal and have them glue the letters on the paper bowl. This will be their filled alphabet soup bowl.
  
  

Magnets

• As a small group or individual activity, fill a large, round, metal film container with alphabet magnet letters. The children can take turns playing with the letters. Pick one child to go first. Call out a letter and see if she can find it in the magnet alphabet soup. Call out five to 10 letters and then have the next child take his turn. If they can, have each child spell their name or at least find the first letter in their name. You can give hints if you feel that the child needs it.
  
  

Fill in the Blank

• Sing the version of the alphabet soup song that you have chosen to the children. Choose a few phrases from the "Alphabet Soup" song lyrics of your choosing and either print out a worksheet to fill out or write phrases on a chalkboard or whiteboard that are missing one word. These phrases should pertain to the song or you can make your own up. If you have chosen the Sesame Street "Alphabet Soup" song version, you could use phrases such as "While ____ for dinner one day, a boy caught a big letter A." Have the children guess until they get the answer, which is "fishing." You can choose to use this activity to fill in with another theme you are working on with the class, such as spelling and animals. Give all the letters for the word except for one letter and have them try to guess what it is.
  
  

Letter Bases

• Get some blank baseball bases or different shaped rubber squares that are approximately a foot or more in diameter. Write different letters on the bases or rubber sections. You will want at least 10 or more of these to make it more active. Place these letters on a round carpet that resembles a soup bowl, if possible. One by one, hold a plastic animal up and have the children find the bases or rubber piece that has the first letter of that animal's name. Once they find it, they should go stand by it. If they need a clue, say the animal name with emphasis on the first letter of the word. Do this with different animals until you run out of time or they lose interest in the game. If you can't find bases or rubber pieces, just tape pieces of paper on the wall with letters written on them.