Looking for the perfect art project for kindergarten? Search no further—this project has it all! Soap carving is a wonderful activity for young children, offering a range of benefits beyond just the fun of creating with their hands. While your child is carving their soap, they will be:
- Developing fine motor skills
- Flexing their creativity and imagination
- Engaging multiple senses
- Practicing patience and persistence
Not to mention, the cost is low, and the supplies are few. I told you this art project for kindergarten is perfect!
Kindergarten at Home
This soap carving activity is one of the projects from my kindergarten curriculum, Kindergarten at Home. If you’re looking for fun activities that cover all foundational skills AND you want everything planned for you, you’ll want to check it out!
Check Out Kindergarten at Home Right Here:
https://shop.howweelearn.com/pages/kindergarten-at-home
Art Project for Kindergarten: Soap Carving!
Supplies:
- Bar of soap (I recommend Dove brand—it is nice and soft, making it easier for little hands to carve. We ended up using Jergens this time, as that is what we happened to have on hand at the time.)
- Butter knife
- A shallow box or another container to catch soap flakes (this will help minimize mess and speed up the cleaning process!)
Optional Supplies:
- Skewers or toothpicks
- Painting pallet knives (we grabbed a pack from the dollar store)
- Paring kitchen knives are good for older kids
- Nails
To make this project even easier, I also have some Free Soap Carving Templates available for you! You can grab yours right here:
Step 1: Gather Supplies
Gather all of the supplies and set up your design studio outside. I highly recommend heading outside for this activity, as little ones sometimes have a hard time keeping all the soap flakes contained in the box!
Step 2: Prep for Carving
First, have your child scratch an outline of what they want to carve onto the bar of soap. We liked using skewers for this job.
If you’re using a template, simply cut out the template, place it over the bar of soap, and use it as a guide for scratching your outline.
Step 3: Carve!
Let your kindergartener carve away!
Butter knives are a great tool to start with, especially if you are nervous about using a sharper tool. Having confidence and trust in your child to use a knife will help them develop in leaps and bounds. When they have mastered control of a butter knife, try not to be afraid to upgrade your child’s tool. I typically find that I am the roadblock to a lot of my children’s progression.
Step 4: Observe Progress
This is one of the most important steps. You can learn a lot about your child’s needs by observing them!
For example, my 2-year-old loved to be a part of the crew. He used a knife to scratch off the brand of soap. That was the extent of his carving ability at this time. He also watched one of his older cousins work on this project. This was a great learning opportunity for him to observe someone more skilled.
My preschooler used the skewer to poke her soap a lot! She also carved a little bit with her knife to scrape off the label of soap. I will be looking for other poking activities for her to do in the future, as this is a great activity to build fine motor skills and hand strength.
My kindergartener stuck with this activity the longest. She was able to scrape her name in the soap and do a little drawn cat design. She also used another bar of soap to carve multiple slices. This action hints to me that she needs more cutting activities in the future!
I hope you try this soap carving activity with your kindergartener! It can teach a lot of life skills and will allow you to trust and observe your little one at work.
Kyanne graduated from Utah State University and worked with youth of all ages as a 4-H coordinator before taking a leave from her professional career to start a family of her own. She has four darling, creative, and outgoing young children ages 5, 4, 2, and 6 months. She enjoys teaching her children, crafting – they make just about anything together, and adventuring in the outdoors of Idaho with her family.
Ready to take your homeschooling to the next level?
Kindergarten at Home is for problem-solvers, critical thinkers, and kids who love to have fun while they learn! (It is also for parents who need an easy and amazing year.)
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