Advice for Kid Whittling

One of our children joined Cub Scouts and is so very excited about whittling. Of course the first step is learning safety, and the guidebook suggests some simple soap projects. We parents have some background in crafty things but never whittling, so I'm hoping you good folks can help.

\* Any suggestions for knife and safety equipment that aren't too expensive but aren't too cheap to be useful? I don't trust the random Amazon kits since I don't have the experience to know what to look out for.

\* Videos or pictures for left handed beginning whittlers?

\* Best soap to start with, and any ideas for simple carvings that grandmas would like? The plan is to first make two soaps to give to both grandmas for Mother's Day, so we have some time.

\* Any other advice for total beginners? I've read the starter page and watched some videos, but it's a bit overwhelming and I want to set my kids up for success (because I'm sure once one sees how cool whittling is, we're probably all going down this rabbit hole together 😅)

Thank you!