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
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!
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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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