Sammy has suddenly become shy with certain sensory activities and messes.  This is such a surprise to me!  He has always been such a mess-loving little guy, so I am not sure why the change.  But, I am easing him back into sensory activities nice and slow.

Shaving cream art is a nice, gentle way to ease wee ones into sensory activities – especially with a paint brush.  It is a nice texture, not too slimy or wet.  I saw a great post on Happy Hooligans about painting clouds using shaving cream, and I thought we could make beautiful puffy pumpkins.  So I decided we would make Jack-o-lanterns out of shaving cream and foam.

I gave Sammy shaving cream (that I had coloured Orange with some red and yellow food colouring) and a paint brush.  I told him we were going to make a big circle for a Pumpkin and let him go wild!  It was the sanest wild I had ever seen.

He began spreading the shaving cream quite thin, so I helped him glob a big amount into the middle.  Besides that he did it all on his own.  But only with the paintbrush.  It was one of our cleanest sensory activities ever!

Decorating the Shaving Cream Art Jack-O-Lantern

I had cut different shapes out of some foam and Sammy decorated his Jack-O-Lantern with lots of eyes, a nose, and a mouth.  He used his fingers and got them a bit messy, which he seemed okay with.  A good baby step!

We added a stem and vine out of green construction paper.  I think it looks very cute!

There are many learning activities that can go along with this art activity.  Shapes and colours can be practiced, as well as fine motor skills.

This shaving cream art activity could be done directly on a window or in the tub as well, as long as there is not too much food colouring.  Shaving cream is actually a great cleaner!  We once made shaving cream body paint, but used far too much food colouring (Sammy wanted it REALLY blue) and the boys had blue tummies for days!

What do you use shaving cream for (besides shaving!)?