Stone Soup
Objectives
Creativity; reflections on collaboration; enjoyment of sharing food . . .
Group Size
Materials
The organizer supplies a large crockpot for cooking; space and tools for preparing; and bowls, spoons etc. for eating.
Set Up
Each person is invited to bring one food ingredient and one spice for a soup, without revealing ahead of time what they will bring. Note: the organizer should collect information about dietary restrictions and allergies, and communicate the "do not bring" food list (without necessarily the names of the people). E.g., no gluten, no meat, no hot peppers.
Directions
People wash, cut up, peel, or otherwise prepare their food ingredient and add it to the pot; the organizer can determine the amount of each spice to add. When the soup is done, eat it together.
Debrief
Discussions can be about the results, what is learned about the diversity of the group, the metaphors and lessons involved in the soup-making for the groups other projects (e.g., perhaps prior discussions of what each person will bring would make the result better (or, by chance the combinations "worked" - should other projects be left to chance?)
Alternatives
Instead of soup, the shared dish could be a casserole, salad, stew, pie . . . See also the Teampedia activity Potluck.