One of the things we’re best known for is our epic colored shaving cream sensory play! With two ingredients and a simple setup, this sensory dream is HOURS of fun.
Shaving cream sensory play is EPIC
When our preschool is in session, we buy shaving cream in bulk.
I’m talking, reaching my arm into the shelf of shaving cream bottles and pushing out all of the bottles that I can.
You get used to people giving you weird looks as you happily push your cart with 7.8 million bottles of shaving cream in it. #teacherlife
Related: Speaking of epic fun, our GIANT 10-foot coloring posters are THE COOLEST.
Kids of all ages love shaving cream sensory play
One of the best things about this sensory experience is that it’s not just “a little kid thing.”
Know who loves playing with shaving cream? Preschoolers and elementary kids and adults.
It’s the perfect multi-age experience, and it’s especially fantastic for families with mixed-aged kids! You try it; you’ll immediately see the draw!
Looking for more shaving cream activities? These are fantastic:
- Shaving Cream Blocks – Busy Toddler
- Stone Washing – Happy Toddler Playtime
- Puffy Moon Art – Friends Art Lab
Materials
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- Shaving cream – you can get shaving cream online, but we typically stock up at WalMart or the Dollar Tree
- Paint – any kid’s paint works, just not acrylic
- Large spoon or spatula
- Plastic containers – I prefer clear, but use what you have on hand
Directions
Making colored shaving cream is just as fun as using it!
MIX – Fill your plastic containers about 1/3 of the way full with shaving cream. Add a squirt of paint onto the shaving cream, then mix with your large spoon or spatula until the shaving cream is colorful.
PLAY – Once you have beautiful colored shaving cream, it’s playtime! You can invite your kids to use their hands to mix, scoop, and play, or you can add additional materials from around your home or classroom.
Fun additional materials to consider adding:
- Small bowls
- Small spoons
- Ladles
- Colanders
- Plastic potato mashers
- Silicone cupcake liners
- Pom poms
- Plastic animal figurines
- Foam blocks
How do you clean this up?
Shaving cream is used year-round in our preschool, and clean-up is far less intimidating than it may look!
Typically, we fill a larger bucket with water and invite the kids to rinse off the materials they used. Then, we spray the materials with a quick hose rinse if needed.
Shaving cream comes off very quickly with water, and even on our days with our biggest messes where it seemed like EVERY toy at our school was covered in shaving cream, clean up took minutes.
Cleaning up is part of the activity, too. Kids love cleaning the materials used!
Is shaving cream a sensory activity?
It absolutely is!
When kids are playing with shaving cream, they
- Hear the sound of it coming out of the bottle
- Smell its very distinct scent
- Feel the wet, foamy goodness
- See the colors interacting
Shaving cream is an excellent material for sensory play, but like with any activity, make sure to have adequate adult supervision as you don’t want kids to ingest any part of this (or get it in their eyes).
FAQ
Any age that won’t try to ingest the materials.
You can use any kid’s paint and we especially love BioColor paint.
Two. 1-2 bottles is typically enough for several kids to play with at the same time.
Shaving cream sensory play is on repeat all year long
We love playing with shaving cream in June just as much as in January!
Sometimes we call this activity “potions,” and it’s one of the things we’re not only known for but one of the things kids ask us for the most.
What colors are you going to make first?
Have fun!
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