Amanat Anand

SoaPen is a creative teaching tool. Being markable on skin, it is used to draw on a child's dry hands. The drawing lathers when the child wets and rubs their hands- prompting them to wash them for the ideal 20-40 seconds. Teachers can apply SoaPen to a child's hands within the classroom and can check if desired levels of sanitation have been achieved by ensuring that the child's hands are mark free, without having to assist each child to the bathroom. A supporting website provides teachers with new activities to incorporate SoaPen into the existing curriculum. The website also includes downloadable posters and activities to reach teachers and students, far and wide.

SoaPen was born out of the Wearables for Good Challenge’s open access handbook, which addressed issues among children in low income communities. Our initial submission was a sketch of our concept along with a write up of a soap crayon wrapped with paper. Subsequently, during our mentorship we pushed the design to examine all angles of usage: the user, application and placement. The team brainstormed on putting a reward system in place to inspire usage and detailed every facet, including the shape. We moved away from our initial circular prototype and chose a triangular form to avoid blunt edges over use. Further, the cylindrical crayon also rolled off the teacher’s table and had the potential to break. It can also be stacked allowing for efficient flat-packed shipping. This attention to detail and user feedback continues to dictate and push our prototypes.