Soap Blobs

Well, the Third Graders seemed to survive my Math lesson. Today was my day to help in the Kindergarten class and the Administrative Assistant saw me in the hallway and told me that none of the children had missed any of the problems where they had to solve for the unknown. I was thrilled although I can't take credit because the parents got the job of explaining that one.

I led Deanna's Little Sister's group today. It's similar to Campfire Girls or Girl Scouts and this was my first time leading this year. I decided to teach them about soap. I borrowed my mother's Canadian cookbook that actually tells you what fats to use and how to clean and render them for soap-making - quite informational. I got there early and was all set up. I decided to take the 9 girls three at a time while the remaining six sang songs with the other leader. I had three colors, three scents, and several different molds for them to choose from. Of course, Deanna wanted to try something more exotic - she wanted to swirl two different colors in her soapbase. All her friends were suitably impressed with her finished product.

The girls listened attentively while I talked about saponification, lye, and the commonly-held story of how soap was discovered. I read from the cookbook and answered questions - lots and lots of questions. We talked about how the pioneers wasted nothing, even their old fat and the ashes from their fires were used to make soap. We talked about how simple our life is by comparison and how the world has changed significantly during my lifetime. It was an interesting and fun exercise and the girls really seemed focused and interested.

The most amazing part, at least to me, was that they were more interested in the skin of the soap left behind in the Pyrex measuring cups that we used for melting the soapbase in the microwave than in the actual soaps they each made. Everyone of them, without exception, asked if they could have the hunk of soap that I peeled off the bottom of the measuring cup to clean it out and prepare it for the next girl to use. I finally decided to stop fighting it and saved all the skins for them. I even made two extra for two of the girls who didn't have ones.

The "ooh's" and "ah's" were unbelievable. Each one had to touch every other girl's blob. They compared blob colors and sizes. They compared the texture on the bottom of the blob and discussed why some were different. The blobs were much more popular than the beautiful molded soaps they made. Go figure.

The most important thing, however, is that they had fun and learned something, to boot. They all probably know more about soap and soap-making than almost every adult they know. And they each had their pretty little scented soap to use in the shower tonight.

One girl missed the meeting - we called to check on her and was told she had something else she had to do. Deanna was concerned in the car on the way home that tomorrow in school all the girls will be talking about their soaps (and now we all realize, their blobs, as well) and this girl will be left out. There's nothing I can do about that, except pray for her and hope she doesn't miss any future meetings.

Here's hoping the other two I do this year will be as big a hit!