Sensory Foam!

This day started as a meltdown morning for the whole family. We all woke up on the wrong side of the bed. After a nap/quiet time reset, I decided to make a quick sensory table.

Usually, sensory tables have a way of calming down Rocket Boy, and it keeps him occupied for more than two seconds at a time. Today we tried sensory foam, which I had not made before. Rocket Boy loves bubble baths, but those bubbles are always short lived and we have had more than one instance of him dumping an ENTIRE bottle of bubble bath behind our backs to try to rectify this issue.

You probably already have what you need right at home for this, which makes it easy to whip up when everyone is needing a good reset. I loath sensory stuff that takes a lot of prior planning on my part, so anything I can make from the cupboard is a win for me.

We used:

• Dish Soap (I had a Dawn brand "soft on your hands" type under the sink)
• Water
• Cornstarch
• Optional - food coloring or washable liquid watercolors
• Optional - small toys, pirate treasure, etc.

We didn't color ours today. It is snowing out, so I just called it fluffy snow. Actually...I didn't want to test how badly colors would soak into Rocket Baby's adorable cloth diaper. Ya just never know! The cornstarch could also be optional, but it does give the bubbles more staying power, without it they dissolve faster.

Put about 1/4 cup of water in the stand mixer (or use a hand mixer and large bowl) and add a squirt of soap. I know, I'm technical. Just use about the amount you would for a sink of dirty dishes. Then about 2 tsp of cornstarch. Then just turn on the mixer and let it go!

That small amount quickly ballooned up to fill my entire bowl to the top with bubbles. I made eight batches to fill our sensory table, and it only took about five minutes. Before putting the foam in, I put coins, magnet letters, and other things in the bottom of the table. This encouraged Rocket Boy to dig for treasure! He also was able to practice letter recognition as he pulled out each magnet. For those with babies around like we do, I think this is pretty baby safe. Rocket Baby did try to put some soap in his mouth, but quickly spit it out and didn't do it again. He seems no worse for the quick taste.

If I could change a couple things, next time I would use less scented soap. I quickly remembered why that soap was half-used under the sink - I hated the smell. Rocket Boy didn't seem to care since he rarely notices smells at all. Next time we might also color the foam, maybe with several colors so we can swirl and mix them!

Obviously though, the boys enjoyed this very much! You can even see on the fridge back there where Rocket Baby was trying to put a soapy magnet back on the fridge. The floor is probably a little cleaner now, but I will mop after bedtime to be sure to get any lingering soap film off.

Happy sensory play! (Pin this for later!)