PSHE and citizenship stimulus
Stone soup
knocked on the door.
‘Good day,’ he said to the man and his
daughter. ‘I am very hungry. Would you please
give me something to eat?’
The man and his daughter shook their heads.
‘We can’t give you anything. We’re not rich
enough. In fact, the only thing we have is a bag
of peppers—and we need them!’
The Traveller shook his head sadly, and
walked on to the next house. He knocked on
the door.
‘Good day,’ he said to the two brothers. ‘I am
very hungry. Would you please give me
something to eat?’
The two brothers shook their heads. ‘We
can’t give you anything. We’re not rich enough.
In fact, the only thing we have is a bag of sweet
potatoes—and we need them!’
The Traveller shook his head sadly and
walked back into the middle of the village. He
sat down under the big tree that grew there,
and took off his heavy bag. The man watched
from the window of the first house. The
Traveller reached into his bag and took out
some sticks. The woman watched from the
window of the second house. Quickly, the
Traveller made a fire. The father and daughter
watched from the window of the third house.
The Traveller reached the top of the hill. He put
down the bag he was carrying. He was very
tired. He had walked a long way, but now, at last,
he was nearly there. Down in the valley, he
could see the four houses in a little village. ‘Yes,’
he thought, ‘this is the village I was told about.
I hope they let me help them.’ He bent down
and picked up the heavy bag again. He would
be glad to empty it out. ‘Not long now,’ he
thought, and walked down into the village.
He knocked on the door of the first house.
‘Good day,’ he said to the man. ‘I am very
hungry. Would you please give me something to
eat?’
The man shook his head. ‘I can’t give you
anything. I’m not rich enough. In fact, the only
thing I have is a bag of carrots—and I need
them!’ The Traveller shook his head sadly, and
walked to the next house. He knocked on the
door.
‘Good day,’ he said to the woman. ‘I am very
hungry. Would you please give me something
to eat?’
The woman shook her head. ‘I can’t give
you anything. I’m not rich enough. In fact, the
only thing I have is a bag of onions—and I
need them!’ The Traveller shook his head
sadly, and walked on to the next house. He
Reproduced with permission from Syllabus Builders published by BRF 2002 (978 1 84101 223 0) www.barnabasinschools.org.uk
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‘I am making myself some soup with my
magic stone,’ the Traveller told them. ‘Doesn’t
it smell good?’
The father and his daughter sniffed. They
could smell something! ‘I would be happy to
share it with you. Of course,’ the Traveller said,
‘it would taste much better with some peppers.’
The father and his daughter said, ‘We have
some peppers!’ and they hurried home. They
came back with a bunch of peppers, and threw
them into the pot. ‘Will it be ready soon?’ they
asked.
‘Oh, yes,’ the Traveller said. ‘It will be ready
soon—and it will taste wonderful!’ They all
watched the water as it bubbled in the pot.
The Traveller heard the door of the fourth
house open. The two brothers came across to
him. ‘What are you doing?’ they asked.
‘I am making myself some soup with my
magic stone,’ the Traveller told them.
‘Doesn’t it smell good?’
The two brothers sniffed. They
could smell the soup! ‘I would be
happy to share it with you. Of
course,’ the Traveller said, ‘it
would taste much better with
some sweet potatoes.’
The two brothers said, ‘We
have some sweet potatoes!’ and
they hurried home. They came
back with some sweet potatoes, and
threw them into the pot. ‘Will it be ready
soon?’ they asked.
‘Oh, yes,’ the Traveller said. ‘It will be ready
soon—and it will taste wonderful!’ They all
watched the water as it bubbled in the pot.
At last, the soup was ready. All the villagers
fetched their bowls, and the Traveller got his
bowl out of his bag. He poured some soup into
each bowl, and they all sat down under the
great tree, and enjoyed the soup. ‘This is very
good soup,’ the woman said.
‘Yes—the best we’ve ever tasted,’ the two
brothers agreed.
‘We must do this again!’ the man said, and
they all agreed.
The Traveller smiled. He washed his cookingpot under the tap. He put it back into his bag.
He made sure the fire was safely out. Then he
walked quietly away.
The Traveller reached into the bag again, and
brought out a cooking-pot. The two brothers
watched from the window of the fourth house.
The Traveller took out a bottle, took off the top,
and poured some water into the cooking-pot.
Then the Traveller took out a great stone
from his bag. He rubbed it carefully with his
hands, and made sure it was clean. He put it
into the water very carefully. Everybody
watched him.
The Traveller heard the door of the first
house open. The man came across to him.
‘What are you doing?’ the man asked.
‘I am making myself some soup with my
magic stone,’ the Traveller told him. ‘Doesn’t it
smell good?’
The man sniffed. He couldn’t smell anything.
‘I would be happy to share it with you. Of
course,’ the Traveller said, ‘it would taste much
better with some carrots.’
The man said, ‘I have some carrots!’
and he hurried home. He came
back with a bunch of carrots, and
threw them into the pot. ‘Will it
be ready soon?’ the man asked.
‘Oh, yes,’ the Traveller said.
‘It will be ready soon—and it
will taste wonderful!’ The two
men watched the water as it
bubbled in the pot.
The Traveller heard the door of the
second house open. The woman came across
to him. ‘What are you doing?’ the woman asked.
‘I am making myself some soup with my
magic stone,’ the Traveller told her. ‘Doesn’t it
smell good?’
The woman sniffed. She could smell
something! ‘I would be happy to share it with
you. Of course,’ the Traveller said, ‘it would
taste much better with some onions.’
The woman said, ‘I have some onions!’ and
she hurried home. She came back with a bunch
of onions, and threw them into the pot. ‘Will it
be ready soon?’ the woman asked.
‘Oh, yes,’ the Traveller said. ‘It will be ready
soon—and it will taste wonderful!’ They all
watched the water as it bubbled in the pot.
The Traveller heard the door of the third
house open. The father and his daughter came
across to him. ‘What are you doing?’ they asked.
Reproduced with permission from Syllabus Builders published by BRF 2002 (978 1 84101 223 0) www.barnabasinschools.org.uk
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PSHE and citizenship teacher’s page
non-physical things, and label the vegetables with
them. Discuss with the pupils what word they will use
to label the stone: it could be ‘sharing’. Decide with
them on a title for the display which will show that
everyone benefits when sharing takes place.
Aim
• To encourage the pupils to think about the
contribution they can each make to communal life.
Props
Year 1
You will need:
• the vegetables mentioned in the story
• a large stone
• labels for the vegetables and stone
As above, but with pupils working in pairs to
produce several labels for each vegetable once the
class has labelled one together. Pupils can write their
own endings to the sentence beginning, ‘Sharing
makes…’ to add to the display.
Explaining the stimulus: ‘Stone soup’
Year 2
As above, but pupils can produce two sentences, one
describing what life is like when no one shares, and
one describing how sharing helps everyone to be
happier.
This is a traditional African story, retold for this book.
Conversation starters
• Talk about the sharing that occurs in the story, and
the results of it. Why do they think the people
wouldn’t share at the beginning? What was the
result of sharing at the end?
• Why do the pupils think the Traveller came to the
village? Why did he smile when he left?
• At the beginning of the story, the Traveller said he
hoped that he could help the people in the village.
Did he help them? How do the pupils think the
people will behave in the future?
• What do the pupils think the magic stone was? Did
it actually help to make the soup? Or was it just the
result of the stone being used that made the soup
such a success?
• Discuss how sharing things can help everyone—
the people with whom the things are shared and
the people who are doing the sharing. Give
examples of this—such as sharing a new game—
and ask the pupils for other examples.
• Sharing means we have less for ourselves. Should
this make a difference to our willingness to share?
Learning from
Working through the Discussion, Activities and
Reflection, pupils will learn that sharing is a mutually
beneficial activity, though it is not always easy.
Activities
Reflective activity
Reception/Foundation
Ask the pupils to close their eyes and to imagine
what it was like for the villagers to have only one
kind of food to eat. Then ask them to imagine how
much better the soup tasted to them. Ask them to
think of things they enjoy doing that are much better
when they are shared with other people.
The people in the story shared their vegetables. Ask
the pupils to identify which vegetable is which. Make
a display of these in a circle, with the stone in the
middle. Talk about the things we can share with other
people. Encourage the pupils to think about nonphysical things, such as time. Decide on four of these
Reproduced with permission from Syllabus Builders published by BRF 2002 (978 1 84101 223 0) www.barnabasinschools.org.uk
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