Crafted Ai Soap with Clever Hands, Clear and Moisturizing Children's Hearts

The spring breeze brushes by, and the mugwort is born. In order to allow cute children to encounter traditional customs while working at their fingertips and perceive the poetry of solar terms in the natural scenery, Qingpingguo Xiaolong Kindergarten in Gaoping District, Nanchong City, launched the theme activity of "Clever Hand Made Ai Soap Qingming Nourishing Children's Hearts" using Qingming Ai Grass as a medium, leading children to make handmade Ai Grass soap by hand, and allowing solar term culture to grow warm in childhood fun.

The teacher introduced the children to the leaf shape and fragrance of mugwort, as well as the folk significance of using mugwort during Qingming Festival. Cute children observe its shape with their eyes, touch its texture with their hands, smell its fragrance with their noses, and perceive the tenderness and vitality of spring plants and trees up close.

Under the guidance of the teacher, a ritualistic handicraft began. Wash the fresh and tender mugwort thoroughly, extract the refreshing juice, filter out the residue, leaving only a hint of emerald green and fragrance.

The soap base is melted at a different temperature, and the wormwood juice is slowly injected. Gently stir and mix, and the green color blends with the soap liquid, turning into a warm wormwood soap liquid.

The children held their breath and focused, gently injecting the soap into the mold. After it solidified and formed, with the assistance of the teacher, they carefully removed the mold. The handmade soap, which was infused with the fragrance of mugwort, quietly formed into pieces and was put into an exquisite soap box. It became a precious gift that belonged only to spring and childlike innocence.

This handmade pleasure not only allows children to hone their hands-on skills through practice, but also immerses them in the cultural heritage of the Qingming Festival through kneading, stirring, and calming. Plants and trees have emotions, and culture has roots. Each piece of mugwort soap hides the charm of spring and carries the beauty of tradition. It plants the seeds of culture in its tender heart, quietly growing and passed down from generation to generation. (Shen Yinghong)