Children need sensory play! They need to be able to get their hands messy and feel comfortable touching things that might be slimy, sticky, or dirty. Some kids might have trouble with certain touch sensory experiences, or sensory processing disorder, and so finding an activity that incorporates their favorite toys can help.
If your child loves toy cars and busses (what child doesn't?) a sensory toy car wash with shaving cream will help develop their tolerance for uncomfortable sensations like touching things that are messy or sticky.
Sensory Car Wash Instructions
Just like the bubble bath car wash or the exploding toy car wash, setting up this sensory car wash activity is easy!
Materials:
Large tray, such as a baking sheet. You could also use a large rectangle storage bin, or do this on the floor on a shower curtain or outside in a kiddie pool.
Shaving cream. Aerosol shaving cream is best.
Toy cars and trucks, etc. You can tailor the toys to suit your child's interest. For example, toy animals or even foam letters or shapes will work
Towel or waterproof mat to protect your work surface (optional)
MORE: 20 ways to play with toy cars
Set-up
Place the toy vehicles on the tray. Cover the tray and all of the toys with shaving cream. Don't be stingy!
Our experience:
I put shaving cream on an old baking sheet and hid toy cars in mounds of shaving cream and told my son it was a "CAR WASH".
I also gave him a spray bottle and fingernail brush to emphasize the "washing" part of the activity. The only way his cars were going to get clean was if he performed the duty himself!
At first, he was a tiny bit hesitant, but his dad sat down with him and demonstrated how to retrieve and wash the cars and even to drive them around making tracks.
In fact, driving the cars and making tracks turned out to be more fun than the act of washing the vehicles!
It ended up providing at least 45 minutes of fun!
Variation: Use the shaving cream and cars for some imaginative play inspired by the book, Katy and the Big Snow.
Raising a Happy Child says
I tried shaving cream a couple of time here and always got - "no thank you" in return. Perhaps she will be more interested when we can do it outside and without clothes on 🙂
Anna - Three Sneaky Bugs says
Ha! Seth keeps asking "remember when we used that white fluffy stuff? let's do that again!" I finally connected the dots that he's talking about shaving cream, something I've relegated to a summer outdoor activity. But maybe, just maybe I'll give this a go. I do remember him getting shaving cream all over our entire backyard, so some ground rules would have to be set.
Fun Mama - Deanna says
I am really trying to do more stuff that's a little messy because my 3 year old daughter is starting to shy away from messy experiences. I SO don't want her to start thinking that she's a girl, so she can't get dirty! This looks like a fun idea. I'll see how I can adapt it to our house.
Evelyn / 2 Pequenos Traviesos says
Now, this is what I call being creative!!!
Gotta borrow this idea my friend. Awesome!
Anonymous says
I use something similar to occupy my 3 year old while I take a shower. I strip him down to his underwear, put a stool in front of the bathroom sink, fill it with water & some kind of soap to make bubbles, then spray shaving cream around the perimeter of the sink. He brings in his cars and has a "bubble wash" in the sink. Great fun. He gets wrinkled, and I am usually long done in the shower before he is done washing cars. I put a towel on the toilet seat and he has to rinse/set them out to dry when he's done. So fun 🙂
Mom and Kiddo says
What a great idea! It's always challenging to find ways to take a shower with the kids around. Very creative.