When my two little girls were even littler I used to put shaving foam in a zip lock bag for them to play with. It never held their attention for a huge amount of time, but then I had never thought to put food colouring along side it. It was this which gave me a seed of an idea for some free play during our one hour art time. I filled the zip lock bag with pink (A & B’s favourite colour) food colouring and sprayed in some cheap shaving foam, adding in some extra food colouring at the end. I gave them to the children:
After it was all mixed I snipped a little hole in the corner of the bag and showed them how to empty it, icing a cake style:
I gave the girls some pastry brushes and bath sponges to spread the foam all over the paper:
A4 has been asking all week could she please do the foam thing again. A hit I think!
These have got to be some of the highest “kid”-rated activities! They get to make a mess and, unbeknownst to them, work on their creativity and art skills.
I only started this one hour play as a way to distract my 2 year old from her tears. It is working so much better than I thought, and for at least one hour she is so absorbed in her activities she forgets to cry!
Shaving Foam is awesome! Especially for really intense Sensory Play. It is also standard in our weekly Sensory Diet. At first my little man couldn’t bear to touch it, the feel of it on his bare skin sent him into spasms of complete fear and revulsion. But now he can handle at least 20 minutes at a time and loves it! Well done on the food colouring! This may appear to be a simple activity, but well worth it and FUN! 😉
I trying goop next week. Sometimes I think I’m nuts!
… at the risk of going all Psych Nurse here… Homeschooling DOES give us a smashing excuse to re-live our childhood… 😉
He he! My mum always says that’s the only reason I home school, because I’ve forgotten to grow up!
My boys never liked that sort of messy play, which has always surprised me! It sure looks like they are having fun!
It is hard to find activities which appeal to B2. It tends to be the ones which give her some sort of sensory experience which work.
You know, if you leave the paper off, then the table gets cleaned by the shaving cream 🙂
I can’t tell you what a great idea that is! Definitely one for next time!!
So much clean fun!!
Theoretically….although there seemed to be a lot of clear up needed afterwards!
Looks like such fun!
…and messy!