Involving Children in Soap Making

I often get asked by parents how they can involve children in their soap making hobby. Unlike a lot of hobbies, this can be a tricky question. There are some great ways to involve your children in soap making, but because of the safety precautions required for handling lye I think it is unwise to have younger children Children Making Soap participate in the cold process stage of soap making. Older and more responsible kids and teenagers would likely do well with this stage, but they must be fully warned of the dangers of lye and taught all the proper safety precautions.

If you have small children and would like to introduce them to the hobby of soap making then there are a few different options available. Melt and pour soaps are a viable option, but it does lack the truly homemade aspect of cold process soap. If you are interested in melt and pour soaps there are many melt and pour soaps available for purchase.

Another option for parents who would like to share their hobby of cold process soap making is to use the French milling method to rebatch a cold process soap that has already been made. This is similar to the melt and pour soap option but allows the children to still work safely with cold process handmade soap. For information about French milling or soap rebatching, please read our article How to Hand Rebatch Soap.

I suggest using the cold process method to make a basic soap with no additives or fragrances. Children can use this basic soap and add their own fragrances and additives like honey, oatmeal, herbs or dried flowers. The best part of rebatching is that the lye does not change the characteristics of dried additives as it does when adding such items at trace. If you add rose petals to a rebatched soap then the rose petals will remain the same color and even retain some of their fragrance. If you add rose petals at trace, they will likely turn brown and will certainly lose all of their fragrance. This will allow your children to be creative with scent and texture and still create a natural hand made soap.

Another great way to involve your children in your soap making hobby is to have them assist in the decoration of finished soap. Kids love to decorate things and they can be proud of the soap art they have created. For some great soap decorating ideas, check our Easy Soap Decorating Ideas