We ended up making our own soap for this project. We didn’t want any words already on the soap that often appears when you buy a name brand. I don’t know if it was necessary for us to make our own soap but we did. I guess if you purchased plain soap and it had a name on it you could try to chisel it off.
- With a pencil, draw a picture on the bar of soap. Have simple ideas for the children to look at. They can piece together a scene then. They can practice their scene on a separate sheet of paper until happy with it. Making any changes on paper is easier then on the soap.
- Go over the lines of the picture with the pencil again, pressing harder to scratch the design into the soap.
- Gently brush the soap crumbs from the cut lines, using perhaps an old toothbrush.
- Paint tempera or poster paint over the soap. While it’s wet, rub of the excess paint with a soft cloth. Baby wipes work well for this part as well. Paint should remain in the scratches.
- When completely dry, buff with a soft cloth.
Suggestion: Have the children etch their name on the back side of their soap before adding paint. This way they will know it is theirs to take it home. We also had baggies handy to place the soap on the top of to dry and then put in the baggies to take home. I wouldn’t have them write their name first. This way if they make a mistake on one side of the soap (and this does happen) they can still use the other side. But hopefully if they sketch their idea on a piece of paper first this will not happen. But, it does sometimes.
