ESL Alphabet Soup is a free online ESL alphabet soup game where students click floating letters to spell vocabulary words. Choose from six topics or type your own word list — the soup fills with exactly the right letters every time.
ESL Alphabet Soup is a free online vocabulary game for English language learners. Students click letters floating in a bowl of soup to spell words, score points, and race to find all the hidden target words before the soup goes cold.
Choose from six vocabulary topics — Animals, Food, Colours, Body Parts, Home, and School — and the soup fills with letters guaranteed to spell the words in that set. Every topic word found earns bonus points, making it a genuinely useful vocabulary revision activity rather than just a word puzzle.
Level: A1–B1 (all ages)
Topics: Animals, Food, Colours, Body Parts, Home & House, School
Preparation: None — open, choose a topic, and play
How to play ESL Alphabet Soup
Teacher tips
Use the topic to match your lesson. If you are teaching food vocabulary, select the Food topic. The bowl will contain the letters needed to spell words like APPLE, BREAD, CARROT and CHEESE — perfect for a post-lesson review activity.
Add your own vocabulary list. Click the ✏️ My Words button and type any vocabulary words separated by commas. The soup will reload with exactly the letters needed to spell your custom list — useful for exam vocabulary, topic-specific units, or any word list from your coursebook.
Use fullscreen on the projector. Click the Fullscreen button in the top right of the game to expand it for whole-class display. The target word panel can be hidden with the Hide Words button for a harder challenge, or revealed as a hint for lower-level students.
Play in teams. Split the class into two teams. Each team takes turns clicking letters to build a word. Award points for valid words and double points for topic words. The team with the most points when all target words are found wins.
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Frequently asked questions
What is ESL Alphabet Soup?
ESL Alphabet Soup is a free online word-building game for English language learners. Students click letters floating in a soup bowl to spell vocabulary words. The game includes six topic sets and supports custom word lists entered by the teacher.
Can I use my own vocabulary words?
Yes — click the ✏️ My Words button, type your word list separated by commas or one word per line, and hit Load into Soup. The bowl reloads with letters guaranteed to spell your words, making it ideal for any vocabulary set from your coursebook or lesson plan.
What level is this game suitable for?
The built-in topic sets are suitable for A1–B1 learners. With the custom word input you can adapt the game to any level — use simple three-letter words for beginners or longer topic-specific vocabulary for higher levels.
How do I use it on a projector?
Click the Fullscreen button in the game header. The game expands to fill the screen and the instructions panel hides automatically. Press F on your keyboard to toggle fullscreen, and H to hide or show the target word list.
Teacher tips — see also our ESL Wordle and Guess the Word for more vocabulary games.
ESL Alphabet Soup is a free online vocabulary game for English language learners. Students click letters floating in a bowl of soup to spell words, score points, and race to find all the hidden target words before the soup goes cold.
Choose from six vocabulary topics — Animals, Food, Colours, Body Parts, Home, and School — and the soup fills with letters guaranteed to spell the words in that set. Every topic word found earns bonus points, making it a genuinely useful vocabulary revision activity rather than just a word puzzle.
Level: A1–B1 (all ages)
Topics: Animals, Food, Colours, Body Parts, Home & House, School
Preparation: None — open, choose a topic, and play
How to play ESL Alphabet Soup
- Choose a vocabulary topic from the buttons above the bowl.
- Click letters in the soup to spell a word — selected letters appear in the display bar below.
- Hit Submit to score points. Topic words earn a ⭐ bonus!
- Drag your mouse inside the bowl to stir the letters and move them around.
- Find all the target words shown in the panel to complete the round.
Teacher tips
Use the topic to match your lesson. If you are teaching food vocabulary, select the Food topic. The bowl will contain the letters needed to spell words like APPLE, BREAD, CARROT and CHEESE — perfect for a post-lesson review activity.
Add your own vocabulary list. Click the ✏️ My Words button and type any vocabulary words separated by commas. The soup will reload with exactly the letters needed to spell your custom list — useful for exam vocabulary, topic-specific units, or any word list from your coursebook.
Use fullscreen on the projector. Click the Fullscreen button in the top right of the game to expand it for whole-class display. The target word panel can be hidden with the Hide Words button for a harder challenge, or revealed as a hint for lower-level students.
Play in teams. Split the class into two teams. Each team takes turns clicking letters to build a word. Award points for valid words and double points for topic words. The team with the most points when all target words are found wins.
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Frequently asked questions
What is ESL Alphabet Soup?
ESL Alphabet Soup is a free online word-building game for English language learners. Students click letters floating in a soup bowl to spell vocabulary words. The game includes six topic sets and supports custom word lists entered by the teacher.
Can I use my own vocabulary words?
Yes — click the ✏️ My Words button, type your word list separated by commas or one word per line, and hit Load into Soup. The bowl reloads with letters guaranteed to spell your words, making it ideal for any vocabulary set from your coursebook or lesson plan.
What level is this game suitable for?
The built-in topic sets are suitable for A1–B1 learners. With the custom word input you can adapt the game to any level — use simple three-letter words for beginners or longer topic-specific vocabulary for higher levels.
How do I use it on a projector?
Click the Fullscreen button in the game header. The game expands to fill the screen and the instructions panel hides automatically. Press F on your keyboard to toggle fullscreen, and H to hide or show the target word list.
Teacher tips — see also our ESL Wordle and Guess the Word for more vocabulary games.