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 :)

Monday--Creating a Summer Sensory Fun Box

Tuesday--Having Fun with Ball Art

Wednesday--Tactile Learning through Contact Paper

Thursday--Making Discovery Bottles

Friday--How to Make Colored Rice

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!