We’ve all seen the image of a preschooler standing next to their father at the bathroom sink, pretending to shave. But shaving cream is a fun learning tool that goes far beyond make-believe play at the sink! It’s also an excellent sensory material to teach your toddler colors, science, shapes, letters, numbers, and more!
Shaving cream is excellent for sensory and art play because it’s so tactile. As a bonus, it cleans up in a jiffy because it’s essentially soap! All the activities included can be done indoors, but if you prefer to keep the mess outside, they’re also perfect for nice weather days!
Here are five fun activities that use shaving cream to engage your tot in sensory play!
Shaving Cream Marble Art
Shaving cream marble art is a unique way to use shaving cream to make paintings. The great thing about this project is that each painting looks different. Shaving cream marble art leaves a lot of room for exploration and imagination!
Materials:
- Baking pan or tray with sides
- Shaving cream
- Craft Sticks
- Food coloring
- Cardstock
- An old credit card
Instructions:
- Spray a layer of shaving cream on the bottom of a tray.
- Add a few drops of food coloring on top.
- Allow your little one to gently swirl the food coloring into the shaving using a craft stick.
- Press a blank piece of paper into the shaving cream and place it on a flat surface.
- Use the edge of a credit card and scrape the shaving cream off the paper. Let dry.
- You can repeat this with more paper and add food coloring as needed.
Shaving Cream Mohawks
Let your little ones play barber shop with shaving cream, combs, and brushes. They’ll have fun styling their hair in front of the mirror, and when they’re done, it easily washes out! You can even let them play this game in the bathtub, but make sure they are careful not to get it into their eyes.
Shaving Cream Bathtub Paint
The bathtub is a great place to play with shaving cream because it is perfect for soapy, sensory fun! Shaving cream bathtub paint lets your little one explore colors and textures in a messy yet safe way!
Materials
- 6-tin muffin tin
- Shaving cream
- Food coloring
Instructions
- Fill each of the six muffin tins with shaving cream
- Add 1-2 drops of color to each muffin tin
- Stir with a swizzle stick or toothpick
- Let them paint!
To avoid colors potentially staining your tub, give your baby a dollop or two of shaving cream to draw and play with in the tub. It is still a lot of fun, even without the colors!
Shaving Cream & Glue Puffy Paint
We found this recipe and image at OneLittleProject.com.
You can make puffy paint using shaving cream, white glue, and white paint. Puffy paint is fun to work with, and the drying process is an excellent opportunity for scientific observation.
Materials
- Shaving Cream
- Glue
- Cardstock
- Small cups
- Craft sticks
- Brown Paper or Brown Crayon
- Paint of various colors or food coloring
Instructions
- Mix the shaving cream and glue in a cup. There is no exact amount, so mix until the texture looks good.
- Allow your little one to add a few drops of colored paint.
- Mix the paint and the color with a craft stick.
- Create as many colors as your child would like to paint with!
- Allow them to use their hands to paint and explore!
Color Mixing Experiments
No Time for Flash Cards has an excellent blog on color-mixing experiments using shaving cream and food coloring! Encourage your child to predict what new colors they’ll create when mixing various colors.
If they want to keep track of their predictions, they can either draw color blotches on the paper to indicate which two colors they’re mixing, or you can help them write the names of the colors.
Materials
- Shaving Cream
- Quart-size Ziploc Bags
- Food Coloring
- Paper and crayons (optional)
Instructions
- Add some shaving cream to a Ziploc bag.
- Choose two colors to add. Before adding the colors, have your child make a prediction.
- Allow your toddler to add a few drops of each color and squish the bag to mix the color.
- Discuss their prediction!
If your little one loves color play, check out all our KneeBouncer games themed around color exploration!
Updated September 13, 2024, by L. Elizabeth Forry
