Today is the final installment of our collaborative tot series with Kristan of Munchkin and Bean. Today we’re talking about messy play.
For today’s post we’re using throw-back pictures, from 3 years ago when LittleMan was toddling his way towards preschool at 3 years old, and SunnyGirl was just 4 months old.
Shaving cream is a wonderful sensory material. It doesn’t sting the eyes, it dissolves in water, its fluffy and soft, and it is very affordable.
You can get a can of shaving cream for about $1 and it only takes 3 or 4 cans of shaving cream to fill the average sized children’s paddling pool.
Or you could just use 1/6 of a can and fill a mixing bowl to make a smaller mess.
Plus you can add a little food dye or liquid water color to make the shaving cream any color you like.
Mix 2 different primary colors (red/yellow/blue) into the shaving cream to learn about color mixing and how secondary colors (orange/green/purple) are created.
Our favorite thing to do was take cheap mesh loofas, dip them into the shaving cream, and throw them at each other.
I know some of you are probably looking at these pictures and thinking to yourself, “but what is the point?”
Besides being fun, messy play is healthy and developmentally beneficial to children. Hands-on experiences help them understand the meaning behind descriptive words like hot, cold, hard, soft, etc.. and this understanding leads its self to better early reading comprehension.
This particular sensory activity also offers plenty of practice for hand-eye coordination, tracking, and team work.
Be sure to stop by Munchkin and Bean to see what sort of messy play fun they are up to this week.
For more toddler activities, check out our Tot School board on Pinterest!
Follow Caitlyn Stock (Suzy Homeschooler)’s board Tot School on Pinterest.
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