🥣 Soup Science Lab: The Chemistry of Thickening & Reducing

A National Soup Month Cooking Activity for Kids and Families

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Did you know — it’s National Soup Month! January is cold, cozy, and the perfect time to lean into stovetop projects. After a holiday season filled with baking, measuring, mixing, and geometry, we thought we’d bring the learning back to the kitchen in a new (and very delicious) way.

This month’s activity is the Soup Science Lab, an exploration of the chemistry behind thickening, reducing, and transforming soup. Kids get to observe real scientific changes: liquids evaporate, starches swell, colors deepen, and textures shift, all while making something comforting for lunch or dinner.

This lesson is all about curiosity, sensory observation, and hands-on experimenting. It’s simple to set up, teaches real cooking fundamentals, and gives kids a scientific “way of seeing” what’s happening in the pot. Bonus: it’s a cozy winter activity that fills your house with the best smells.

Even though National Soup Month was created by Campbell’s Soup Company in the 1980s (let’s be real!), we can appreciate the sentiment behind the comforting nature of a bowl of warm soup bringing people together on a cold winter day. Let’s head to the stovetop and turn your kitchen into a chemistry lab.

Happy National Soup Month!

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Soup Science Lab Activity Worksheet

Activity & Worksheet includes:

• Reducing: What happens when you simmer a liquid and let water evaporate?

• Thickening with Starch: What happens when you introduce starch?

• Each method changes the texture in a different way. Kids get to predict, observe, and taste-test each result.

We recommend reading the whole activity for inspiration and planning before getting started!!