Knife safety and whittling

Yesterday we had scouts and learned to use knives safely. I thought this activity could be used for homeschooling as well, with the appropriate ages. Our scout group are eight and nine year old boys.
1. Talk about knife safety: how to use a knife, sharpen and clean a knife.
2. Each child gets a bar of soap. Show the children how to hold the soap and what direction they will move their knifes to whittle (Away from the body that is!).
3. Whittle away! My boy carved his soap to look like a boat.
4. Help and show the boys how to wipe off and close their knives.
5. They get to use their own carved soap for a fun camp out!
With the scout group, I talked to the parents and made them aware their boy had a pocket knife.

This was such a fun activity for boys and they get to earn a whittling award at pack meeting! :)