Start with a bar of soap. I cut mine in half for using with small children due to size. A big bar can get very cumbersome to hang onto.
Use any type of wool roving. I usually buy mine at Weirdolls.
lay the soap onto as many colors as you like of layered wool. For young children I then wrap the whole thing into cheesecloth (or pantyhose work well) to keep it all together. Older children and adults do not need this.
I use only one bowl and usually do this with 8 children, ages 2 to 6. Whenever possible I try to incorporate activities that require cooperation. The children are used to it and work very well together. It's always a surprise when we're with other (outsiders!- haha!!) that all want their own bowls. While living in Japan I was stunned to see entire classes working on one mural at the same time and nobody barking at the other to scoot over or don't draw on that part. They were literally drawing through each other's arms, pens bumping into each other and not fighting- in jr. high!!
These soaps are great exfoliaters and work really well on getting stubborn paint, temporary tattoos or henna off of skin.
Dip into soapy water. Again, I do not measure just a good squirt of natural dish soap. Dr. Bronner's works great- love the lavender scented one.
Work up a good lather and keep rubbing and dipping back into the bowl for minimum 5 minutes. For small children it will be considerably longer and may need some adult assistance to really get it to felt. Without the cheesecloth you'll be able to feel and see it come together. If you've got cheesecloth on it you'll have to peek and check it. The cheesecloth will felt to the wool as well if you overdue it so check it and then do the final rub a dub with the cloth off.
