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Ocean Commotion Sand Foam Sensory Experience

I set out the shaving cream… and the blue sand… Everyone wanted to know “What are we going to do?”  They just wanted their little hands on the cream and the sand! So that’s what we did! Sand Foam requires just two ingredients and cleans up easy but it’s all about how it feels! Sand foam makes a wonderful sensory experience for children for any time, but it fits in very well with our Ocean Commotion theme this month.

Ocean Commotion Sand Foam Sensory Experience

Just to be clear, this is not a slime or a dough. It’s simply shaving cream with sand. You can add a little sand or a lot of sand. Experiment! We used blue sand since that’s what I have and it works well with our Ocean Commotion theme.

2 ingredient Ocean Commotion Sand Foam Sensory Experience

Squirt shaving cream on a tray. Pour on a scoop of blue sand.

Ocean Commotion Sand Foam Sensory Experience

Getting the sand mixed into the shaving cream! Shaving cream alone is a wonderful sensory experience, but adding sand is interesting. How does it feel? Different kinds of sand will likely give you different results. Ours is very fine craft sand so it feels soft!

Ocean Commotion Sand Foam Sensory Experience

One of my little ones was not happy with this messy play. Usually, she doesn’t seem to mind but this time, nope, didn’t like it! That’s okay too, she’s learning. She didn’t want to be dirty. It can be stressful and be concerning to children when they get dirty even when that’s exactly what we were planning to do.

Ocean Commotion Sand Foam Sensory Experience

Maybe next time she will be interested in participating but not today. She watched her brother though and saw that he was having a good time.

Ocean Commotion Sand Foam Sensory Experience

But, we don’t want tears! Everyone else was all smiles! It was a short but messy sensory play experience. We’ll do it again, it was fun.

The shaving cream and sand rinse away but I would advise wiping it off the trays (and children’s hands before washing) with a paper towel into the trash rather than putting it down the drain. A lot of sand can accumulate in the pipes otherwise! This would also make a good outdoor activity so you can rinse clean with a hose and leave the sand outdoors.  The mess cleans off of clothing easily but you probably want to wear paint smocks.

Ocean Commotion Sand Foam Sensory Experience

I don’t use shaving cream often in my childcare because, honestly, licensing doesn’t like it. That’s because the can says, “Keep out of reach of children”. I am very diligent about following licensing rules (it doesn’t actually say in the regulations we can’t but licensing will say it isn’t allowed) but a little common sense goes a long way. Shaving cream has been used for years in early childhood and I choose to use it on occasion. If you are concerned about using shaving cream in the classroom:

  1. READ THIS: the infamous “shaving cream” article
  2. Don’t do the activity.
  3. Use Cool Whip (edible but sticky).
  4. Try White Foam Paint (I haven’t).