Saturday, June 16, 2012

Summer Sensory Fun: Shaving Cream

It's the last day of my Summer Sensory Fun Series!
If you've missed any of the fun activities, check them out :)


I thought it would be fun to end the series with something dad-themed since tomorrow is Father's Day.

Enter Shaving Cream!


Stop worrying.  Yes, shaving cream is messy--but that's why kids love it!
And as long as you use my #1 clean-up tip, the mess won't be that bad :)

What can you do with a 99 cent can of shaving cream?


You can shake it, spray it, and fill your Summer Sensory Fun box with white fluffy foam.  Add a couple drops of food coloring, and a few pairs of little hands, and let them play away.


Let them swirl the colors together...

Or blend two colors to make a new one...


Want to know how to modify this activity for babies?  Use a ziplock bag!
Take a strip of packing tape and cover the top of the bag so that your munchkin can't get into the bag.  Put it on the floor, and let her blend colors and play with shaving cream just like her big brothers and sisters.  If your tot still puts things in her mouth, this is the way to keep her from trying out a mouthful of  Barbasol.  (I know, yum!)

There's something magical and soothing about playing with shaving cream.  On rainy days when my preschool students were fidgety and stir-crazy, I would spray a can of shaving cream all over one of my classroom tables, roll their sleeves up, and let them swirl and swipe until they were smiling again.  I loved the peace that this activity would bring to a crowd of preschoolers!

At home, I'm not about to put shaving cream on my antique dining table.  The sensory bin works perfectly as a place to play with shaving cream and contain the mess.

And my #1 clean-up tip?  Don't use water.
We all know how shaving cream works.  It lathers up with water to keep a nice thick foam going.  The more water you add, the farther the foam spreads.  So if this is on your kitchen counter or your kids' plastic picnic table in the backyard, don't use water.  Use a spatula or other utensil to scoop and throw away all of the used shaving cream at the end of the activity time, and then use dry paper towels or a cloth to clean up the surface until all it needs is a quick spritz of cleaner and another wipe-down.  It sounds like a big job, but it really isn't.  (At least, not as long as you carefully instruct your kiddos to march straight to the sink to wash their hands and not to touch anything on their way there!!!)


Thank you so much for joining me this week!
I've had a blast getting back into my teacher-mode and sharing some of my favorite activities with you.  I hope that the adaptations I've included will give you ideas for ways to modify these activities for your own kids.  Encouraging your little ones through sensory play is one of the best ways you can help their early development.  There are so many fun sensory activities out there, and I hope some of these ideas have inspired you to be on the lookout for other opportunities in the future!

Next week, I will have a link-up on Friday for you to share your experiences with sensory fun.  Want to post pictures of your little ones trying out some of the activities I've shared with you this week?  I would love it!  Want to show us some of your other favorite sensory activities?  I can't wait to see!!!
Remember to come back on Friday to link up!  I'm excited!



6 comments:

  1. Ahh the ziploc bag is genius! Ivan and I will have to try that out!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't let Kayleigh play with it in the bin, either! She really liked the bag, though :)

      Take pictures and link up next Friday! That would be fun :)

      Delete
  2. I love this!!! Thanks for sharing, I can't wait to try with my little one!

    ReplyDelete
  3. My kids are going to love this activity, too!! :) My daughter is 8 and she *still* loves playing with sensory stuff!! When she was younger, we played this game where we took turns blindfolding eachother and had to guess what was in the bowls! Will have to try that now that my youngest is 3, I'm sure he'll love it, too! And my daughter has been asking to play it again!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Seriously??? What happens the first time the baby bites the bag open, sucks a piece of it down her throat and suffocates?

    Sorry, I had always heard to never let babies or young kids play with plastic bags

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right that plastic bags can be a choking hazard. So can most sensory activities, which is why all of these are meant to be parent-child activities that are closely monitored by the parent. Choking/suffocation will not be an issue as long as you are with your child and discourage/take away the activity the moment they try to put the bag near their mouths. My daughter was 8 months old last year when I shared this post. She played happily with the shaving cream bag for about 20 minutes without ever trying to put it in her mouth. If she had, I would have taken it away and redirected her to a new activity. I hope all parents would do the same.

      Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you return again.

      Delete

Your sweet comments make my day! Thank you for coming to visit ♥