the Workspace for Children

View Original

FIVE MINUTE SOAP FOAM FOR SENSORY PLAY

Soap foam. I love it. It is simple to make with ingredients you already have on hand and a snap to clean up. It feels and smells amazing. Children of all ages love to sink their hands into it. This is a great activity to put in your back pocket this winter.

Stuck inside on a freezing day? Soap foam in the kitchen sink.

Need an extra long bathtime to kill an afternoon? Give them a big bucket of soap foam.

Looking for an independent play idea? Soap foam plus favorite cars, dinos, or baby dolls.

Read on to find out more….

First, let me share the most simple recipe and how-to:

Yup, it’s really that simple. You can use dish soap, bath soap, bubble bath or anything you have around the house. If you are making this for small children, make sure it’s tear-free soap.

You can set this up in the sink or a big bin. The thing I love most about this sensory material is its versatility. Babies can play with a small amount on the high chair. Toddlers can explore it with a few scoopers. Preschoolers love to use it to with sponges, whisks, or any old kitchen tool.

When your child is ready, you can set this up like I did below for my (then) six year old. She washed her cars and then made up a road trip game about driving to a hotel. She set up her roads and made a hotel out of magnetic tiles.

On another day, she washed a dried her animals after they ‘swam in the ocean’.

On yet another day I set this up with rocks and animals. This one turned into a ‘river in the woods’ trip for her animals. Her game sounded just like the trip we had just taken to the woods the week before.

Soap foam is a simple way to ease yourself into non-messy sensory play for your child. You truly do not need to even add color. If you are looking for a way to get your little one busy playing and learning this summer, do yourself a favor and whip up a batch of soap foam. The five minutes you invest making it will set you up for a loooong play session.


Helpful Clickable Links:

Ikea Flisat Table

Water Color Magic

Way to Play Roads


I hope you found this post helpful.  If you want to hear more from me, please be sure to subscribe to my newsletter and join the conversation over on Instagram.  

-Lizzie