My son has a few sensory issues and one of them is that he does not like to get his hands messy, slimy, sticky, or dirty. I hoped that if I created a sensory activity for him that used his favorite toy cars and busses he might decide to stretch his boundaries as bit.
It worked!
I squirted out shaving cream on an old baking sheet and hid toy cars in mounds of shaving cream and told him it was a “CAR WASH”. I also gave him a spray bottle and fingernail brush. He was a tiny bit hesitant at first but my husband sat down with him and demonstrated how to retrieve and wash the cars and even to drive them around making tracks.
It ended up providing at least 45 minutes of fun!
Want Your Kids to Love Being Unplugged?
Subscribe to our newsletter and as a thank you, receive 10 waiting games kids can play anytime anywhere.
Your email will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party. Click here to view our privacy policy.
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.