Today we have a really fun kids soap craft where kids of all ages can make their own soap that has a special surprise inside! This fun idea for DIY soap also makes a really fun gift kids can make and give using this simple handmade soap recipe to make hand washing awesome.
Let’s Make Surprise Inside Homemade Soap!
In this season of cold and flu, I have renewed my emphasis on personal hygiene with my children. My 3 year old, however, has a major aversion to soap. He will willingly wash his hands and take baths, but fights any type of soap or shampoo.
Related: Things to make with soap
“Treat soap” (or in our bathroom “car soap”) has been just the ticket at our place. Because he is younger, he helped just a little with the soap making process under adult supervision, but older kids will really get into making fun soaps with little toys frozen inside.
This is the easiest homemade soap recipes we have used and we hope it inspires you to have so much fun with your kids.
This article contains affiliate links.
Supplies Needed to Make Homemade Toy Soap Surprise Recipe
- Small plastic toy that will be of interest to your child
- Small piece of plastic wrap
- Glycerin
- Soap mold or small plastic reusable snack container, silicone muffin cup, plastic baby food container, plastic container from snack sized yogurt or applesauce etc…
- (Optional) Skin Safe Soap Coloring Dye or food coloring works too
- Essential oils to create soap with a kid-friendly scent – we love using lavender, Citrus Fresh, Peppermint, Orange, Neroli, Thieves, Purification, Stress Away, Cedarwood, Tangerine, Vetiver, Geranium or SleepyIze for bedtime
How To Make Homemade Soap for Kids
Watch Our Short Tutorial Video How to Make Treat Soap
Step 1 – Find the Right Size Toy
The most important — and trickiest — part of this process is coming up with a toy that will fit into the container you have chosen to use as a mold, but neat enough to motivate the unwilling hand-washer.
I used some tiny cars and dinosaurs that I found at the dollar store. Once you have chosen your toy the soap can be assembled in 15 minutes and ready to use within the hour!
Step 2 – Prepare the Toy if Needed
Wrap toy tightly in a small piece of plastic wrap. It is best to choose a toy that wont be ruined if it gets damp, but the plastic wrap can be used to protect toys that can’t sustain being soggy for extended periods or are at risk of being clogged by soap.
Step 3 – Melt the Glycerin for Soap Making
Following the instructions on the glycerin package melt a small amount of the glycerin soap block in the microwave or using a double boiler.
For me, it took about 2 min for 1 bar to melt.
Step 4 – Add Essential Oils & Soap Coloring
Add essential oils for soap smell and soap dye for soap color if desired. Don’t overlook combining smells and colors to customize your homemade soap.
For this project, we kept the glycerin clear and added a combination of 3 drops of Citrus Fresh Essential Oil Blend plus 2 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil for a refreshing and bright aroma.
Step 5 – Fill the Soap Molds
- Pour soap base or glycerin into the silicon molds so it is 1/3 full (or 1/3 the depth of your bar of soap if using a container that is deeper than you want your soap to be).
- Wait 5-10 min until glycerin has begun to set.
- Place toy upside down onto partially set glycerin.
- Pour (re-melted) glycerin on top of the soap so the toy is covered fully and to the depth you want your bar of soap to be.
Step 6 – Wait! We are Almost Done!
Wait 30-40 min for soap to set and then pop out of mould. You are ready to wash!
Homemade Soap for Kids with Toy in the Middle
This is an easy beginner soap making recipe that is really fun for kids of all ages under adult supervision. Kids can make their own surprise toy in the middle soap that works great for bathtime, clean up and as a kid-made gift.
Materials
- Small plastic toy that will be of interest to your child
- Small piece of plastic wrap
- Glycerin
- (Optional) Skin Safe Soap Coloring Dye
- Essential oils to create soap with a kid-friendly scent – we love using lavender, Citrus Fresh, Peppermint, Orange, Neroli, Thieves, Purification, Stress Away, Cedarwood, Tangerine, Vetiver, Geranium or SleepyIze for bedtime
Tools
- Soap mold or small plastic reusable snack container, silicone muffin cup, plastic baby food container, plastic container from snack sized yogurt or applesauce etc…
Instructions
- Make sure your toy will fit INSIDE the mold with enough space for soap to fully surround it.
- If the toy is not fully plastic, wrap it in a small amount of plastic wrap.
- Melt the glycerin in the microwave (or you can use a double boiler) until fully melted. Mine took 2 minutes for one glycerin bar.
- Add essential oil.
- Add coloring if desired.
- Pour glycerin into mold 1/3rd deep.
- Let cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Add toy to top of glycerin.
- Pour more glycerin on top (you may need to re-heat) until toy is covered.
- Wait at least 30 minutes before removing from mold.
Uses for leftover glycerin/soap mix
We had extra glycerin leftover and maybe you will too. Here are some great ideas on ways to use it!
- Making treat soap as gifts for nieces and nephews (think Christmas presents, stocking stuffers, etc) – they are just adorable soap gifts!
- Make an adult version with some exfoliating material to use as hostess gifts (think poppy seeds, flower petals, etc)
- Using a mesh “puff,” make a shower scrubbie. Compress puff into a cup with string handle sticking out. Pour scented soap around the puff. You now have a colorful soapy scrubby that can hang in your shower that makes your own loofah soaps!
More Homemade Soap Projects for Kids
- Make homemade Halloween soap that is spookily adorable.
- Make your own handmade Spider man soap!
- This adorable homemade flamingo soap couldn’t be any cuter!
- Kids will adore the process of unearthing a dinosaur in this dinosaur fossil soap.
- LEGO in soap? Yep! It is fun & easy to make.
- Make your own Rosemary soap at home which is one of the loveliest soap mixture ideas around.
- This Avengers craft makes the coolest homemade soap!
- Make bug soap!
- Make soap crayons with this fun soap recipe.
- Make bathtub paint kids will love to become a bathtub artist!
Reuse by making your own kids toys with recyclable items!
What was your favorite thing about this soap making craft? What essential oils did you choose for your homemade soap for kids?
I like that idea of putting an object inside! The girls will have fun finding things to put in their soap…definitely will have to try this.
We experimented with soap molds, ice trays and cookie cutters. Here is our page with pictures of our Soap Creations
What a cool and creative idea! My son is too old, but my nephew would love this!
.-= Angie´s last blog ..I’ll Be Sleeping On Black Friday While You Shop =-.
My sons don’t usually give me any trouble washing their hands but this is really a very neat idea!
.-= Cassie Rodriguez´s last blog ..Planning a Birthday Party =-.
That is too cool! Totally going to do it!!
That sounds like a lot of fun! I might have to try this one.
.-= Cascia @ Healthy Moms´s last blog ..Abdominal Exercises For Pregnancy- What to Do and What Not to Do =-.
So far I’ve only done it with cars. My other ideas were lego people, littlest pet shop, miniature characters from your child’s favorite show (I saw a buzz lightyear when I was looking for my prize). My son also has a novelty spider ring that I thought would work. Basically anything that can sustain the possibility of getting wet. It has to be good enough for them to work for it though because it takes some time to get out. YOu could even just put money inside. Even paper money can withstand being wet!! Love to hear everyone else’s ideas too!!
Love this. What toys do you recommend to go inside these? Any that def. don’t work?
What a great idea!
.-= Mud Pies For Mommy´s last blog ..Things Kids Say Thursday’s #10 =-.
Awesome!!! Thankfully, my children adore washing their hands. Sometimes to a fault I think. But this sounds like a wonderful activity to do just for fun!! My boys will love it. Thanks for the super ideas always.