Soap Carving for Children of All Ages (Schiffer Book for Woodcarvers)

You'll find more examples with patterns on-line by googling, but this is a good starter book to test your interest in soap carving simple items yourself or with your child. That's worth the 4 stars to me; if it had a good number more patterns, I'd go 5.Ok price, quick delivery... a bit thin against what you may expect... good about of info about making popsicle stick carving tools, though... not sure I'd take the time to do that - a dull paring knife, or metal and/or fiber board nail file might do just fine. A sharp Swiss Army Knife would do, too, but if working with a child parental oversight and hands-on instruction would obviously be important.Kids would love to have an Owl or Bear or Fish from soap as a gift or to make themselves. And to think that the mess that's made cleans itself, too!

I am a teacher and I carve in my free time. I have always regretted that the tools for carving are too sharp and dangerous for kids to use , so sharing my hobby with the children was out of the question until I read this book.What a nice idea, tools made out of popsicle sticks!!I made a class set of the tools and my kids happily carved some of the figures suggested in the book.I did it with a grade three class when the kids learned about Inuits carving soapstone. The kids enjoyed it a lot. Children in higher grades will have as much fun doing it and hopefully they will be as proud of their creations.I can recommend this book for anyone who would like to carve with kids but is afraid to do so.One suggestion. Have the children bring a serving tray, or baking sheet and have them carve on that so the chips of soap will stay in the tray rather than fall on the floor!

Exactly what I was looking for. I am intending to teach my granddaughter how to carve. As a carver myself starting at the young age of about 10, I know that the initial problem with carving was the strength in one's hands versus the density of the material being carved. I started out with soap, but with no instruction, didn't use the right kind of soap and became quickly frustrated. I then went to Balsa wood, which became even more frustrating due to the absolute requirement for SHARP tools. Had I had this book back then, I would have been able to learn a great deal more about how to work in three dimensions.I loved the part about making your own tools from popsickle sticks.

We included it in a package of gifts for the grandkids. It was the biggest hit (the least expensive) the parents were really excited to get into it also. Lots of smiles and ideas. Bad pun but good clean fun.

This book itself is not really for kids. It has good project ideas for kids but is written for adults. So it's good if you want to be completely involved in the soap carving with your child or if your child is older. Don't expect to give this book to your 8 year old and have them come back with a cool carving. The book teaches you so that you can teach the kid. I like that it shows you how to make your own inexpensive carving tools.

We purchased this for our 5 1/2 year old son for Christmas and yes it takes a lot of adult supervision, but he does like it. His favorite part are the tools made of sticks. My husband said the tools were very easy to make. My 9 year old daughter needed some direction while creating her soap carving, but was able to do most of it on her own. I think the kids and husband all enjoy this and it's another way to get them spending quality time together.

This was an excellent book. The directions and illustrations were clear and easy to follow. I bought this book because my seven-year-old granddaughter wanted to learn to carve. We started with the first project, a raised heart, and progressed to an abstract version of a cardinal. Her little brothers enjoyed carving with her, even though their creations were more, shall we say, "free-form." As the tools were made of wood, I didn't have to worry about injuries. Three days and 20 bars of soap later, the project was a huge success.

Book is very easy to follow. 9yr old son was able to follow book, make tools and carve without any help! nice book and nice projects. This is way messier than I expected. The soap is hard to clean up and cakes on to the table and floor so just a sweep up isn't sufficient. Although I like the idea of the non knife tools I probably would have been happier with wood and a childrens wood carving kit/book.

Its a Christmas present but looks good quality

Such an awesome resource! We are excited to use this in our homeschool. Very thorough.

Simple instructions, easy to follow, fast shipping!