Making soap

[KCT]

I was toying w/ the idea of making soap when my 7th grade girls read The Witch of Blackbird Pond.

Does anyone have a simple recipe we could do in a classroom? Is that possible? (the kitchen in our building does not have a stove. I have a small propane cooker)

 

[1ke]

Well, cold processed soap doesn’t need a stove. The lye reaction creates the heat. But, lye is a caustic chemical and this type of soapmaking has a lot of steps and requires multiple ingredients. Obviously you’d need to be very careful with the lye with children.

Another options would be to get some soapmaking materials from a craft store like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby. You aren’t making the soap totally from scratch, it’s just melt and pour in a little crockpot type appliance or microwave.

So, do you want it to be more of a science project with precise measurement, chemical reaction, stirring, pouring, etc… or do you want it to be more of a fun craft project to go along with the book?

That, to me, would determine which way to go.

Go to teachsoap.com/ and look around their website to decide how you want to proceed. They discuss melt-and-pour as well as cold processed, and have recipes for some simple things kids can do like bath fizzies.

 

[KCT]

So, do you want it to be more of a science project with precise measurement, chemical reaction, stirring, pouring, etc… or do you want it to be more of a fun craft project to go along with the book?

I go back and forth. If I can involve the science teacher, that would be great. If not, it may just be a craft project.