Childhood101

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DIY Soap Crayons – Made By Kids

We had so much fun making these soap crayons. It was a great sensory experience that resulted in crayons that children can use for drawing on paper or for drawing in the bath. Although the process was quite messy, it was good, clean mess. How much cleaner can you get than soap?! This is what we did…

DIY Soap Crayons

You will need:

  • Soap flakes – we used Lux Soap Flakes, commonly found in the laundry aisle of the supermarket
  • Food colouring
  • Hot water

Soap-Crayons-tutorial

Instructions:

  • Measure one cup of soap flakes into a bowl and add the food colouring of your choice and a tablespoon of hot water. 
  • Mix until the soap flakes have melted enough to form a thick paste.
  • Mould the paste into whatever shapes you like.
  • Repeat the process with different colours if you choose.
  • Leave to dry out for two days before using to draw.

Soap-Crayons-Recipe

Top tips:

  • Use lots of food colouring. The more colour you add, the brighter your crayon colours will be.
  • It can take a few minutes for the soap flakes to form a paste. Adult help will be needed for this part. Just when you think it’s not going to come together, it does!
  • To make flat shapes, like our stars, just pat out the paste until it’s a flat disc and then place it onto baking paper. Use cookie cutters to create your chosen shape. The baking paper stops the paste from sticking to the work surface.
  • To make spheres and logs mould the paste the same as you would play dough. The spheres are easy for toddler hands to grasp and colour with.
  • The paste is great for little hands to squelch and squeeze just for fun! Don’t skip this part 🙂
  • Work near a sink or outside near a tap to make it easy to rinse the soap and food colouring off little hands. Thanks to the soap it comes off very easily.

Gifts kids can make: Sibling gift ideas

For something a little different, today the Childhood 101 contributors are playing a game of online tag! It’s lots of fun and a great way to discover new blogs and  fun ideas. Kylie of Octavia and Vicky shared these fab soap crayons, while I am over at Go Explore Nature with a fun outdoor art activity, creating recycled bottle lanterns. You can connect with Kylie on her blog, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.
C101_team tagI invite you now to head on over to Debi’s blog, Go Explore Nature, where I’ve been tagged with a post about making recycled bottle lanterns with kids.



Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.

Read more of Christie's adventures at https://childhood101.com.

Read the comments or scroll down to add your own:

  1. RCMom says

    May 30, 2013 at 7:57 AM

    I always love a good kid craft recipe! Can't wait to try this out! Thanks! Here are my faves: http://gotkiddos.blogspot.com/2013/02/five-faves-week-of-dough-and-goo.html I'm going to link to this at the bottom of that post now! Awesome!

  7. Kirstie says

    May 31, 2013 at 10:18 AM

    Hi Christie (it's always lovely to meet another "ie" person!)! I was pointed in your direction by Amanda @Not Just Cute, and now it seems I will be redirected all over the web following your tag game - eeek! They are all such wonderful posts though (the reminder to get out and play in the cold is timely for us), and I have added Lux soap flakes to my shopping list for next week as an excellent rainy day activity! Thanks!

  8. Kirsten McCulloch says

    June 2, 2013 at 8:43 AM

    What great fun to make, let along use. I am really enjoying this tag team today, and I think my kids will enjoy the results of it too :) This may be a ridiculous question, but how do you use soap crayons? Are they for using in the bathtub, or do you actually draw on paper with them?

  9. Larlyn says

    June 2, 2013 at 9:23 AM

    Assuming you use these in the tub, does the food coloring come off tub and tile easily?

  10. Karen says

    June 10, 2013 at 8:28 AM

    Thanks for this craft idea. I was looking for a soap for my daughter to make. This is so easy that all four of my kids to make crayons. Now we just have to get them to patiently wait two days till they can use them. We made dinosaurs, stars, crayons, flowers and hearts - using our hands & cookie cutters. I suggested we could make these for friends for gifts as well. Thanks so much for this post.

  11. Michelle says

    March 25, 2017 at 1:24 AM

    Thank you so much for sharing this I have been looking for something like this for a while, I will be making this next weekend with about 15 kids, thank you again.

Trackbacks

  5. […] 5. Easy Soap Crayons Kids will always jump at the chance to scribble on something that isn’t paper. Give your approval and better yet, provide the tools! Make a batch of soap crayons with just three ingredients, mold into favorite shapes and leave out to dry before taking them into the tub. For tips and tricks from craft creator Kylie, visit Childhood 101. […]
  6. […] 5. Easy Soap CrayonsKids will always jump at the chance to scribble on something that isn’t paper. Give your approval and better yet, provide the tools! Make a batch of soap crayons with just three ingredients, mold into favorite shapes and leave out to dry before taking them into the tub. For tips and tricks from craft creator Kylie, visit Childhood 101. […]

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