[Woodcarver] Children's carving class (chat)

[phylbarb at toast.net]

When I taught junior high I always did at least one class in soap carving.  I 
found Ivory to be the best for an intro because it is soft and can be repaired 
by wetting the breakoff and attaching it and letting it dry.  For the first 
try I used my beagle as a model and had them carve it sitting so that it had 
no thin parts to discourage them.  After that we used harder soaps and more 
difficult poses.  We carved inside a three-sided box to cut down on flying 
chips.  Ivory soap also washes off easily...both hands and clothes and contins 
no irritants.  We used both popsicle sticks and plastic knives.  I filed the 
sharp points off the edges so that there were no lines.  We used them with the 
cutting edges for hair only.  Their pride at the finished product knew no 
bounds.  Some of them even preserved them but I can't remember what they used 
on them.

Phylbarb