Foamy Sensory Fun – A Lesson in Perseverance!

It’s funny how you take your health for granted until you become weighed down with pain…for the past week i have been struggling with migraine pain and it has made it awfully hard to look after 2 active toddlers who are also learning to use the toilet!

Bending down made the endless pounding and sharp needles in my forehead feel worse and those of you who have experienced the joy of toilet learning with toddlers will know just how much time I had to spend bending down to pull pants on and off and clean accidents!

The pain is gradually lessening but I am off to the chiropractor today to see if i can find some relief and fix the problem….unfortunately I think carrying and lifting and bending with 2.5 yr old twins all day has had an impact on my back!

So the toddler twosome haven’t been offered as many activities recently but I have enjoyed watching them enter the world of imaginary play with each other and invent their own fun. I haven’t been able to sit at the computer to share with you much over the last few weeks but I thought it was time to get back into the swing of things!

So here is a little sensory and fine motor fun we enjoyed on a lovely Autumn sunny day…..I do so love shaving cream….there are so many possibilities for fun….and best of all it is easy!!

Ruby has often had a little anxiety around touching shaving cream but she has been working with it a little at her early intervention classes and it really seems to have helped as she couldn’t wait to touch the foam and mix some colour in on this day….

If your sensory child is a little hesitant of touching this sort of foam or texture a little tip is just to place a very small dot straight onto their hands and let them rub it together or wash it off themselves straight away. Gradually increase the size of the dollop each time until they are comfortable with the touch and texture on their hands.

You can then move to a flat surface and guide their hands to the foam there…don’t push if they aren’t ready, it took Ruby a few months to get to this stage…it can be very confronting for them but by persisting you will make progress. I always keep a bucket of water close by with a towel so she can wash anytime she feels the need.

Adding a little colour to the foam can entice them further….i use edicol dye powders and i only need to sprinkle on a small amount to get this degree of colour. I let the girls mix it in and then they named the colour as it appeared. You could also use food colouring.

This sort of play allows them to just explore the process and the new textures and colours. There aren’t any rules…Ruby preferred to squish it around in her hands and through her fingers, Tara liked making patterns on the table and covering her arms in ‘sunscreen’.

If you want to you can encourage them to lay some paper flat over their table designs, press firmly and then hang up to try. Don’t forget to let them touch their pictures when dry as they have a lovely furry feeling!

I’m going to be laminating this print for the wall…isn’t it glorious!!

For our final bit of fun with shaving cream we moved to the grass and i placed a rectangle of perspex down. We looked at the effect of the grass under the clear perspex and then i added a few dollops of shaving cream and gave the toddler twosome a window squeegee each.

I didn’t need to prompt them in any way….they used the scraper to move the foam around and then realised that by changing direction they could ‘clean’ the foam off.

These actions challenged their fine motor and coordination skills and there was a fair bit of problem solving there too! It became a game to clear the foam so they could see the grass underneath again!

For Ruby it was another little challenge to get her crossing her midline and using both sides of her brain as she swiped across the perspex. You could also do this on a window or sliding door of course.

When the novelty of the scrapers wore off some colour was requested and Tara got to work mixing it in…she then seemed to feel she needed to cover the whole board and began very diligently pushing paint to the corners….

She didn’t stop until she had covered every space…she was so busy with this and it became very important to her.

 

 Another great thing about shaving foam and edicol colours is that I just strip the girls off when finished …throw everything into the washing machine, hose down the table and plonk their hands in the bucket of water….all done!

Have you tried shaving foam yet or does your little one have problems touching these sort of textures?

Persistence and perseverance really is the key even though it can be very frustrating  You will be rewarded though when you see the joy and achievement on their face as they finally conquer the touch and texture!

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