Foam Sand For Beach Sensory Play
There’s something about the feel of wet sand that is oh so satisfying. Squishing it between your fingers and letting the sensation roll over you. Winter is over… Well sort of. They are saying we will have snow this week.
But summer weather is a long way off. This month we are studying the ocean. I always love doing ocean units there’s so, much to learn and do. This foam sand sensory activity gets kinda messy but is worth it.
This gets really messy so I opted to make it a one person at a time project in the kitchen. The children love taking turns sitting in the kitchen working on projects while I cook and clean. The kitchen is truly a family hub.
What you need for Foam Sand.
:: 1 canister cheap shaving cream
Its that simple just craft sand and shaving cream. I opted to add just enough shaving cream to make a soft, wet sand. It’s a little thicker than the sand right out of the water at the beach. This foam sand has a fun texture perfect for sensory play.
If this gets out of control let it dry and it will vacuum up just fine so there is no reason to panic if the kids get a little carried away. Which you know kids have a tendency to do when they are having fun.
This is will wash right off of your child’s hands when they are done playing. Encourage them to rub their hands together over the tray to reduce the spread of the mess.
To make playtime fun I set shells, blue glass beads, and fish math counters to the side and let the littles use them as they please. Creativity in kids is such a wonderful thing. The foam will die down leaving behind wet sand perfect for hours of play.
While I am struggling to get into this ocean unit while we are freezing well into April. t was much like this with cold weather during the nice spring pond theme last year. The weather just does not like to cooperate with our lessons.
We are pulling out the Mini Observation Pond with salt water and no animals this time so the kids can really observe salt water and how it affects lings like the shells and evaporation. We even get to make squishy fish aquariums again this year with small shells added to the fun.
I plan to use silicone sandwich bags that can hold up to the edges of the sells this time.
With earth day coming up we pulled out lessons on water pollution and discussed again how we can help the planet and in turn the oceans. We are adding plastic reducing alternatives to our baby steps to going green.
The ocean theme has been one the kids always loved. We made our own homemade sensory sand with lavender essential oil to help calm the kids with ADHD in our homeschool group. I love all of the ways you can use lavender for calming.