What to add to shaving cream sensory play?

Shaving Cream Sensory Activity Tray Just spray the shaving cream in tray, smoothen it out and put few drops of food coloring. Then I asked my daughter to mix and explore using a popsicle stick but after sometime she wanted to put her hands in…. Absolute messy funtime!! An instant hit for kids!!

What are the learning outcomes of shaving foam?

Shaving cream is a relatively mess-free way to play with textures! It can also help kids develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination by picking up, moving, and drawing with their fingers in the shaving cream. You can draw shapes, simple figures, or letters to engage your child in more learning activities.

What is a safe alternative to shaving cream for sensory play?

This sensory foam is so easy to make and is a great taste safe alternative to shaving cream so perfect for little ones.

What do you put on after shaving cream?

If you like to use aftershave, then choose an alcohol-free one, since alcohol will dehydrate your skin. Alternatively, you could consider applying a caring balm that matches your -skin -. This will rehydrate your skin immediately after shaving when it has a tendency to dry out most.

What are the benefits of foam sensory play?

Research shows that sensory play builds nerve connections in the brain's pathways, which lead to the child's ability to complete more complex learning tasks. Sensory play is also very relaxing and rejuvenating to children.

How does sensory play help a child's development?

Sensory play encourages learning through exploration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity. It helps to build nerve connections in the brain and encourages the development of language and motor skills.

What are the benefits of playing with foam?

Fine Motor SkillsPinching, scooping, squeezing, pressing, and rolling Playfoam helps your kids build the fine motor skills and manual dexterity they need in order to button their shirts, hold a crayon, and eat with a fork.

Is shaving foam safe for messy play?

Both shaving foam and shaving cream are great to use for all sorts of fun kids activities and messy play ideas for toddlers and preschoolers.

What is the shaving foam trick?

Cover the fabric you want to clean in a layer of shaving foam - any brand will do as long as it's white. Leave it to sit on the sofa for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour for tougher marks. Use a damp cloth to wipe away the foam, scrubbing any stubborn stains as you go.

How do you make shaving cream squishy?

What to do: Squirt a handful of shaving cream into a plastic baggie. Add 3 or 4 drops of food coloring. Zip the baggie closed, and then use packing tape to secure the top. Invite your child to squish and squeeze the baggie. ... Describe what your child is doing and how the shaving cream feels: "That is squishy and soft.

Shaving Cream Sensory Play Ideas - The Inspired Treehouse (2024)

January 11, 2022 By Lauren Drobnjak

These shaving cream sensory play ideas are the perfect way to inspire some fun and creative play for kids!

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Want a fun way to level up sensory exploration in your home, classroom or therapy clinic? Grab a can of shaving cream and let the messy play begin!

Why OTs Love Shaving Cream Sensory Play

Tactile sensory play can involve a wide variety of mediums. From dry dyed pasta to wet, wiggly water beads, kids love to dig their hands into containers full of stuff that they typically wouldn’t have an opportunity to play with on a daily basis. We have tried just about every sensory bin filler out there but, when it comes down to it, shaving cream sensory play is an all-time favorite sensory play activity – trust us, the mess is worth it!

Tactile play is so beneficial (and fun!) for kids. Exploring the world using the sense of touch contributes to kids’ ability to organize their body. A child with a healthy and functioning tactile system can tolerate hugs, hair-washing, different clothing textures and more. Tactile play can help kids learn to tolerate different textures on their skin: sticky sensations, warm or cold sensations, and more!

While shaving cream is a fun and engaging experience for some little hands, for other kids it’s icky and overwhelming. All of us have aversions to different types of sensory input. For me, it’s swallowing thick liquids and eating gummy candy — EW!

Tactile Defensiveness

For a child with tactile defensiveness or hypersensitivity to touching things like shaving cream, this aversion could negatively impact their daily routine in some way. Maybe they won’t touch finger foods or maybe they won’t tolerate the texture of shampoo. If this sounds like it might be an issue for a child that you know when they are presented with shaving cream, read up on these tips and tricks to help support tactile defensiveness.

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Shaving Cream Sensory Play Ideas - The Inspired Treehouse (2)

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Shaving Cream Sensory Play Ideas

Snow Storm

Cover a table with piles of shaving cream and have kids spread it all around using their hands (or a utensil if they aren’t quite ready to touch it). After they have created the snow storm, have them copy shapes that you draw in the snow or even practice writing their names! This is a great way for toddlers and preschoolers to practice fine motor skills and visual motor skills!

Snowy Animal Cards:

Download the snowy animal cards. Print and laminate the pages. Cover the cold weather animal with shaving cream and read the hints to the child to see if they can guess which animal is hiding! See if they are right when they move the shaving cream to reveal the animal. Check out the Snowy Animal Cards in action here!

Take it to a slide

Add a little movement to the sensory play. Cover a slide with dollops of shaving cream and let kids slip and slither their way down.

Make pretty cards

Fill a shallow container with a bit of shaving cream and a few drops of food coloring or washable paint. Have kids smoosh a piece of cardstock on top until it’s covered in shaving cream. Lift up the cardstock and have them use a squeegee or ruler to scrape off the excess creating a marbled effect. Bonus #1 — a healthy dose of bilateral coordination practice. Bonus #2 — a really pretty smelling notecard!

Bathtime

Fill a bin or bowl with shaving cream and toss in a few plastic animals to give them a bath. Add some toothbrushes or a paintbrush to scrub and some droppers or squirt bottles to rinse.

Shaving Cream Play Dough

Who knew that you could make play dough out of shaving cream!? Try this simple recipe for a fun twist on shaving cream play!

Construction Time

Shaving cream acts like glue when it’s spread onto foam blocks. Put a handful of foam blocks and a dollop of shaving cream in a bin and have kids build their best creations!

Puffy Paint

Equal parts shaving cream and glue make a magical combination! Mix it up and put a blob on a colorful piece of construction paper. Have kids work quickly to spread it with the back of a plastic spoon or a paint brush to create Santa’s beard, a melted snowman or a puffy cloud! In fact, this activity goes perfectly with Eric Carle’s “Little Cloud” book.

Racetrack

Pull out some Hotwheels and spread some shaving cream on the table to create a really cool (and slippery!) racetrack. Have kids follow each other’s path or work on pre-writing lines using the car wheels to make the marks! Then, use some brushes to create a car wash for your cars!

Other Shaving Cream Ideas

Make your own shaving cream puffy paint using simple ingredients with this idea from Parenting Chaos.

Check out these cool shaving cream rain clouds from One Little Project!

What are your favorite shaving cream activities? We hope you use the ideas above to create some fun tactile sensory activities for your little ones!

Shaving Cream Sensory Play Ideas - The Inspired Treehouse (3)

Shaving Cream Sensory Play Ideas - The Inspired Treehouse (4)

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Lauren Drobnjak

Lauren Drobnjak is co-author of The Inspired Treehouse blog and a pediatric physical therapist who currently practices in the educational environment. She has been a physical therapist for 18 years, with 17 of those years specifically in pediatrics. Her drive to make a difference in the lives of kids has led her entrepreneurial spirit in the direction of creating opportunities for play-based wellness and child development. She is a busy mama of 3 who thrives on chaos. To come down from the stress, Lauren enjoys exercising like she’s still 20, yoga, chocolate, a great book, browsing Pinterest, and anything crafty!

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