Shaving Cream Tray

Originally, I set the shaving cream tray up to be a Halloween invitation to play, with lots of Halloween themed loose parts. E preferred using it quite differently, spending relatively little time using the loose parts and focusing on additional tools she requested following her own ideas. And that’s what invitations to play are all about!

{You can read about another sort of invitation to play with shaving cream and liquid watercolors I recently set up for E, using the materials for our Marbled Pumpkins craft.}

 

(E was 3 years and 11 months old.)

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Materials for Shaving Cream Tray Invitation to Play

• Shaving cream.
• Liquid watercolors.
• Googly eyes.
• Halloween themed confetti. {Ours was from Dollar Tree but there are many options like this or this.}
• Glow in the Dark Spiders.
• Glow in the Dark Lizards.
• Tray or similar for the shaving cream.
• Divided tray or other container(s) for the loose parts.
• Empty hand soap container (optional).

 

 

I used a storage box lid to hold the shaving cream instead of a proper tray, and its properties inspired E greatly! This wasn’t intentional on my part but a nice surprise.

I added orange liquid watercolors to a hand soap container that still had a little bit of soap at the bottom that wouldn’t come out during normal use. I was going to wash out the container but adding a little bit of soap changes the sensory experience and helps with the clean up {not that liquid watercolors tend to be hard to clean up even without soap}, so I was glad that I’d changed my mind. E loves using those containers but usually doesn’t get to do as much with them as she’d like.

Finally, I put googly eyes, lizards, spiders and a few different  kinds of Halloween confetti into a divided tray.

I set it all up in the backyard at first {and I was unable to get a picture before E grabbed the hand soap container 😉 }.

 

 

E immediately asked for a paintbrush, so I gave her a small selection, and she started using the plain shaving cream to paint the little compartments at the edge of the storage box lid.

 

 

Unfortunately, we soon noticed that it was too windy for the confetti to stay put {the wind even blew pine needles and sand towards us that got stuck in the shaving cream}, so we moved everything to the dining table.

E kept painting the edges of the box lid with both her paintbrush and her finger.

 

 

She had one of the lizards take a plunge into the shaving cream, then tried to wipe it off with a paper towel that she’d requested. It wasn’t easy to do, so she handed it to me to help 😉

 

 

It wasn’t until she’d used the plain shaving cream for quite a while that E really got to work on the orange liquid watercolors.

 

 

{Note the second lizard taking a nap in the shaving cream.}

 

 

The orange watercolors had her all kinds of inspired: To wash her hands in them

 

 

and turn the paper towel orange.

 

 

A spider got to take a bath in it {and of course was wiped off again afterwards.}

 

 

She requested a sponge and used it along with the soaked paper towel to wipe off the table at length. It was a battle between the watercolors and the soap over turning the table orange or actually cleaning it, and the soap actually came out slightly ahead 😉

 

 

Next, she tried the foam paintbrush {that she’s usually not too fond of – I still usually offer it along with a few other kinds when she asks for a paintbrush}

 

 

before starting to explore with her hands

 

 

and arms

 

 

 and face {note the suspicious orange cast to her face 😉 }.

 

 

But as is frequently the case these days, the part where she wiped it all off was the best part for her. Let’s just say the paper towels had a tough job today 😉

 

 

When E was done, we cleaned up together {so wonderfully easy with shaving cream, and the soap made it even easier} and I left the remaining shaving cream on the tray to save for another activity the next day where I wanted to give E the chance to explore partially dried up shaving cream.

 

 

Does your kid enjoy playing with shaving cream? What’s her favorite sensory material? Leave a comment!

 

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