Play Dates with Shaving Cream

Summer Fun with Shaving Cream

Shaving cream continues to be at the top of our list of favorite sensory activities, and for the past few years we've invited our playgroup over for a messy shaving cream play date.  This year since my boys are a little older I branched out a bit and incorporated more shaving cream activities into our summer fun play date.

How to Host a Messy Shaving Cream Play Date

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Supplies:

• shaving cream
• water
• liquid watercolor paint or food coloring
• Kool Aid
• baking soda
• squeeze bottles
• paint brushes or foam brushes
• butcher paper
• ice cube trays

When the children arrived I had shaving cream paint set up and ready to go.  I covered our picnic table with butcher paper and mixed up a batch of our two ingredient quick paint recipe using shaving cream and liquid watercolors.  Food coloring or tempura paint may be substituted, although food coloring will temporarily stain skin.

Tank and Peanut (3) and one of their friends immediately began covering the paper with shaving cream paint.

Our guest carefully used the paint brushes, but my boys preferred using their hands.

Next I set out a bucket of shaving cream and Kool Aid.  I had the bucket prepared ahead of time.  I covered the bottom of the bucket with shaving cream.  For an added twist I sprinkled a generous amount of baking soda on top of the shaving cream, and then I covered the mixture with Kool Aid.

All of the other parents and I chuckled at the fact that two of my boys were the only ones who touched the shaving cream concoction at first.  They knew exactly how to play with it, so they immediately dug their hands in and got messy.

After they played with the mixture for awhile I pulled out the squeezy bottles, and the kids sprayed the shaving cream, baking soda, and Kool Aid producing foaming bubbles.  Vinegar is not needed when Kool Aid and baking soda are combined, although since our Kool Aid is a bit on the older side I decided to add some vinegar to the water in the squeeze bottles, hoping to get a bigger reaction.  All of the children wanted a turn with the squeezy bottles, so I was too busy refilling bottles to get a good picture of the foaming eruptions.

The third and final shaving cream activity I set out for the kids was shaving cream and ice.  I filled the ice cube mold by combining water and liquid watercolors in a measure cup with a pour spout and carefully pouring the water into the mold.

I don't know if it was the ice or the fact that they had all warmed up to the messy play, but most of the kids stuck their hands in the shaving cream and ice bin.  Several of them played for quite awhile.  Peanut and one of our friends even got into the bin and covered themselves with shaving cream.

I had our play pool nearby, and I filled it with water when the children were ready to rinse off and get clean.  Then they engaged in water play for the rest of the morning.  In past summers we have filled the play pool with shaving cream for head to toe messy play.

After our friends went home it literally took me ten minutes to rinse down the backyard with the hose and clean the containers and paintbrushes we used for play.  I love inexpensive and easy to clean play!

For more play date ideas follow me on Pinterest.

More ways to play with shaving cream:

Shaving Cream and Water Beads ~ Frozen Smoothie Paint ~ Shaving Cream and Watercolors