If the weather's frightful and the kids are less than delightful, challenge them to some creative 3D fun with a bar of soap and some simple tools. Projects and crafts for kids can be messy, but soap carving is about as clean as fun gets. Large bars of Ivory soap are inexpensive and easy to carve, but there's no reason other types of soap can't be carved. Sharp knives aren't necessary, so small children can join in.
Sculpting Tools for Carving Soap
Small clay sculpting tools will work. I used a set of very inexpensive carving tools shown in the pictures below just because they were on hand. They aren't much good for anything but soap, definitely not sharp and even the soap bent them. Howard K. Suzuki, the author of Soap Carving: For children of All Ages has a section on how to make carving tools out of Popsicle sticks.
Short of investing time to making tools, look around for simple ones. Orange sticks, needles with large eyes, metal nail files, plastic knitting needles, and a small paring knife for those old enough to use it, are some suggestions. The eye end of a large needle was used to make the decorative lines in the carving shown here. The extra soap is removed by the eye of the needle. Be sure to click all of the pictures below for a larger view.
Soap for Carving
Ivory soap has been carved for decades. They recommend unwrapping and letting the soap dry for a day. I didn't take the time to do this, and didn't have any trouble carving. The Ivory website has a large section devoted to soap carving. They have a recipe for making colored soap by grating a bar of soap, using food color, and reshaping the soap. Why not save the shavings from carving to color and shape?
For larger carvings, 2 or more bars of soap can be melded together. To do this, scrape the Ivory logo from one side of each bar of soap. Place the scraped sides down into about 1/4" of warm water for 15 minutes. Put the bars together, joining the soaked sides, and apply pressure. Let the joined bars dry for about a day before carving.
Carve over a container to catch the scrapings, or a piece of paper, occasionally emptying the pieces into a container. Scrape or cut only small pieces at a time to prevent breakage. In other words, when you want to remove a large piece, do it a little at a time. The carving can be smoothed and polished with a paper towel.
Soap carvings make great gifts. Give them for Valentine's Day, birthdays, Christmas, to grandparents, coworkers, teachers, whoever you need a thoughtful little something for. They aren't fattening, and they won't last forever, but will last for quite a long time if kept dry. Soap carving is a great way to learn the basics of carving for kids of all ages.
Corinne Shibley - Corinne Shibley studied sculpture in art history and created her own sculpture on the way to a B.A. in Studio Art. "There's something ...
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