This snowball melts in the bathtub, not in the sun!
The little prize inside this snowball is so much fun for children to discover.
What You Will Need:
- Ivory Soap Bars (one for each snowball you want to make)
- Cheese Grater
- Mixing Bowl
- Water
- Little Toys or Trinkets
What You Do:
- Carefully grate the bar of soap into a mixing bowl using a cheese grater. Kids love to use cheese graters, but because they are sharp, this step should be done by an adult or under close adult supervision.
- When the soap has been grated, slowly add water a little bit at a time, and mix it around with your hands until the soap can be formed into a snowball shape. Kids really love this step! We have found that the water to soap ratio is about 1/4 cup of water to 1 cup of shredded soap.
- Before completely a snowball shape, place a small toy or waterproof trinket into the soap ball and mold the soap around the toy. A fun little surprise inside the soap!
- Place your snowball soap on a rack to dry. Drying may take 24 hours or more.
- When the soap snowballs are dry, package them in a small gift box or bag, add a ribbon or bow, and gift tag (see idea below), and you can give these surprises as a gift.
Variations:
- If you prefer, you can use soap flakes (found in the laundry aisle of most grocery stores) in place of having to grate your own soap. Just mix a bit of water with the soap flakes until you have a consistence that can be molded.
- Why stop at snowballs? Make snowmen and other snow sculptures from the soap!
- Want scented snowball soap? Add a few drops of Peppermint Extract to the water when mixing.
- For sparkly snow, sprinkle the snowball shapes with a small amount of glitter before drying the snowballs.
- If you don't want to use a cheese grater to shred the soap bars, you can also use a grater on a food processor.
- If you wet your hands a bit before forming the snowballs, the soap won't stick to your hands as much and molding is much easier.
The Science:
Ivory soap is known for its purity and gentle formula. It's mostly composed of sodium tallowate and sodium cocoate, which are salts of fatty acids. These ingredients make the soap mild and easy to shred. Shredding the soap increases its surface area, making it easier to combine with water and mold into a new shape. The small pieces absorb water more quickly, allowing the soap to become more malleable. When the soap dries, the water evaporates, causing the soap particles to bind together and harden into a solid form - a snowball.
Poem for a Gift Tag:
We made a snowball for you to have fun,
It melts in the bath tub, not in the sun!
When your soap snowball has melted away,
You will discover a cool prize for play!
