Wild! Science Cake Soap Review & Global Competition Details

Ben loves science and has been learning all about materials in school recently. We have been having lots of discussions about how things change from different states when heated, cooled etc so when I was offered a Wild! Science kit for review I thought it would not only be a lot of fun to do with him, but also a great learning opportunity. There are a range of sets including a Lava Lamp and Glitter Tube Lab, Bath Bomb Factory, Perfume Factory and the one we were sent which is the Cake Soap Factory. It does come boxed in pink and girly packaging but once Ben got over the initial "it looks girly" thing and I handed him the instructions, he couldn't wait to start experimenting.

Wild! Science Cake Soap Factory

The Cake Soap Factory comes with two different types of soap, a special transparant casting soap and a professional grade Titanium Oxide pigment soap which can be melted and moulded to make almost any solid shape. The kit comes with an instruction book which contains recipe like instructions on how to make cupcake soaps, macaroons, fluffy meringue, jelly, foamy buttercream and soapy decorations.

We got to explore how different actions produce different results, for example whipping the soap creates a stable foam that can be piped onto soap cakes to make any sweet creation you can imagine. The clear glycerine soap allows light to pass through, but when the soap is whipped with air, it becomes an opaque, white foam. Adding white pigment or color to the clear soap changes how the soap looks because it changes which colours of light are absorbed or reflected by the soap. Learn about solids and liquids, melting and freezing, aeration, dissolving, stable foam, reflection, absorption and scattering of light and density: floating and sinking.

Putting it to the Test

Ben was very excited to get experimenting with the Cake Soap Factory and we kicked off by making Soap Cupcakes. 
The instruction manual is easy to follow and Ben got to work straight away measuring out his ingredients which included two blocks of the clear soap base and one Titanium Dioxide pigment soap which he placed in one of the beakers included in the kit. 

We then popped this in the microwave to be melted. One word of warning, make sure there is a grown up about to supervise and ensure that the soap is melted in 10 second intervals at a time, reduce to 5 seconds intervals if necessary until the soap is melted and you if you see it starting to bubble, it is too hot. We carefully removed it from the microwave, it will be hot so my advise would be to let an adult do this. Next Ben added a couple of drops of color and stirred it using one of the sticks included. 

Finally he poured the mixture into the cupcake moulds and we put it in the freezer to cool. A few hours later and we had cupcakes ready to ice. 

Icing followed a similar process of melting the soaps but we also included water this time. When melted we whipped the mixture with a fork before piping on top of the cupcakes, just as you would when decorating edible cupcakes. Interestingly we learned that the whipped soap becomes harder after a few hours as it dries out as the whipped soap contains a lot of water and as some of this water will evaporate, turning into a gas and move into the surrounding air which makes it harder. 

Our Verdict

Ben really enjoyed using the Wild! Science Cake Soap Factory, the instructions are well written and easy to follow and it definitely brings science to life for kids. The fact that you use this factory to make a product such as these pretty awesome soaps and then actually use them or give them as gifts is fantastic. Ben was very proud of what he produced in the end and I know he is also planning on making some more to give me as a Mother's Day gift. The one thing I would like to see is a change to the packaging as I think the very girly pinkness might put some boys off using it. Apart from that minor point, we loved reviewing the Wild! Science Cake Soap Factory and can definitely recommend it. 

Where to Buy

The Wild! Science Cake Soap Factory and other fantastic science kits are available widely from the usual toy retailers and can also be found online from Amazon with an RRP of £14.99. 

Wild! Science Global Competition

I also want to tell you about something very exciting, the Wild! Science Global Science Challenge which is giving families (2 adults and 2 children) everywhere the chance to win:

• A trip to Orlando Florida, 
• Entry to Disney World, 
• Accomodation in a 5-star resort for 7 days 
• Care hire for 7 days 
• A full set of Wild Science products 
• Entry to the Kennedy Space Centre to meet a real astronaut! 

How to enter: 
It is a very interesting competition for little budding scientist and inventors and if they are anything like my Ben will get them excitedly thinking about science and ways to explore it. Here is how you enter:

1. Buy a Wild! Science Kit and send a receipt copy with your online application 
2. Design and create an awesome new Wild! Science Kit 
3. Write and illustrate a basic instruction book to show other kids how to use your awesome Wild! Science Kit.