I’ve been on a Shark Tank kick lately, which brings me to another amazing find: SoaPen. It’s a soap-filled pen that kids can draw with before scrubbing up – and you don’t even need to be toddler age to love it. My one year old is obsessed and it has helped make clean-up post meal just a little bit less hellish (the color doesn’t always come off, but at least the bits of food do!).
Made without SLS, parabens, phthalates, EDTA or animal byproducts, SoaPen is designed so that the drawings only rinse off once a child has washed their hands for the recommended 20-40 seconds. Meaning you can check if your kiddo actually washed their hands – many parents will tell you that toddlers hate washing hands and are great at playing tricks – like turning on the water and pretending they’ve washed their hands…
Available as a three pack for $15.99, SoaPen comes in three scents: fresh pear, berry blast and tangy tangerine. On a side note, there’s a great story behind the brand. It was founded by two women, Amanat Anand and Shubham Issar, who both grew up in New Delhi, India, and moved to the United States to attend Parsons School of Design. They were both interested in designing for social impact and won the UNICEF ‘Wearables for Good’ challenge. They learned that more than 50% of infectious diseases that lead to fatalities among kids under five can be avoided by the simple act of washing hands with soap and they’ve been on a mission to make hand washing fun ever since.
It’s also worth adding that SoaPen is also better than letting toddlers draw in the tub/walls with washable crayons, which I have always found creates bad habits and urges…
