Making Soap & Encouraging Habits
Prize Soap
Encourage young children to wash their hands by suspending a toy or prize in the middle of the bar of soap. Clear melt and pour soap works best for this as it makes it easier for them to see what they are working to free.
Cut the melt and pour soap onto 1-inch by 1-inch blocks
Fill a bowl (1.5 cups) with the soap pieces
Stir .5 tsp- 1 tsp of essential oil into the mix
Melt at reduced pour (we did 70%) in 30-second intervals stirring between each interval
Using a deep silicone mold, pour a base layer of soap
Let it harden
Put toy/prize in each cavity of the mold
Pour additional soap to cover the toy and fill the mold
When hard, remove the soap from the mold
Customized Melt and Pour Soap
Studies show that individuals give a greater value to items they have helped create. Affectionately termed, the “Ikea Effect”, parents can use this cognitive bias to their advantage when encouraging certain behaviors, in this case, having tweens and teens customize their own soap. It is also a fun craft that results in a useful final product that everybody needs, even when there isn’t an unstoppable virus on the loose.
Ikea Effect: a cognitive bias in which consumers place a disproportionately high value on products they partially created
Cut the melt and pour soap onto 1-inch by 1-inch blocks
Fill a bowl (1.5 cups) with the soap pieces
Melt at reduced pour (we did 70%) in 30-second intervals stirring between each interval
Stir .5 tsp- 1 tsp of essential oil into the mix
Add in 5-10 drops of soap colorant or food dye
Let it harden
Pour into silicon molds. Remember you can also use smaller ice cube/chocolate molds with fun shapes
When hard, remove the soap from the mold
Reverse Swear Jar
Reward good habits, deduct for negative behaviors, and work towards a goal. This technique of visualizing positive behavior is a staple in operant conditioning across fields. This time proven technique is even more effective when the entire family joins in
Using a dry erase marker, set intervals on a glass
Set out a bowl of items you will use to visualize every time you do a behavior. This can be marbles, coins, pasta, etc. Make sure the items are all the same size.
Assign point values to positive and negative behaviors. Add and subtract as behaviors are performed. Some examples are below
+2 for using hand sanitizer
+3 for washing hands
+1 for wiping down items as they come into the house
+4 for rinsing produce before putting away or eating
-1 for touching face
-3 for bringing in items without cleaning them first
Give rewards as goals are met