kids activities

9 Fun Shaving Cream Activities That Preschoolers Love

When I was a preschool teacher, shaving cream day was the BEST! Our class had loads of fun free-playing with fluffy white squishy shaving cream! I wanted each one of them to have their own pile of fluff to play in so I bought lightweight round plastic serving trays, one for each of them. It made cleanup a bit easier, as well.

The trays so light, though, that they would have moved all around the table and the predictable mess could have become a catastrophe! Can you imagine sliding trays full of foam in motion? There goes the floor!

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So, before the children came into the classroom, I took packing tape and made a big loop for each tray. I stuck them to the bottom of each tray and adhered the tray to the top of the table in front of each seat. It was perfect! They played to their hearts’ content and nothing moved. Don’t you love it when a plan comes together???

9 Fun Ways For Kids To Play With Shaving Cream

Do your children enjoy playing with foamy white shaving cream? There are so many things you can do with it. Here are 9 great ideas they will love:

DIY Puffy Paint For Kids – Artful Parent

DIY Toy Car Wash – Paging Fun Mums

Fake Snow – Playtivities

Free Play with Shaving Cream – Ducks ‘n a Row

Marbled Eggs – Ducks ‘n a Row

Shaving Cream on a Window – Simple Fun For Kids

Shaving Cream Paint – Ducks ‘n a Row

Shaving Cream Rain Clouds – One Little Project

Shaving Cream Wrapping Paper – Mess For Less

What fun activities have your kids done lately with shaving cream?

9 fun activities for #kids using shaving cream! #preschool #tips Share on X

Enjoy!

Happiness Is Homemade Party

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Welcome to this week’s Happiness is Homemade link party. This party is dedicated to things we call “home.” Whether it is that homemade recipe that everyone “oohs” and “ahs” over or learning how to paint a picture for the first time, this blog party celebrates creative fun. As always, we select a few special posts from the previous get-together to feature on the current party. The new posts are displayed after that!

Our party host for the month of July is me, Sinea from Ducks ‘n a Row, and this week I selected our features with variety in mind. Home décor – delicious desserts – fun activity for kids – and art! So stay for a while and look around.

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When you find something you like, click on it and please PIN it. Pins help our blogs to prosper. Many of us connect with new readers through Pinterest. When you pin a picture that you like, you are also introducing our work to others, as well. Thank you!

So, here are those creative posts from last week’s party for you to enjoy!

Our Featured Posts

How to Make Toddler-Safe Play Sand from Fun-A-Day. Little kids just love to dig their hands into sand. This recipe gives them all the fun of a “day at the beach” with no risk of harm.

Sandbox toys!

Collapsible Beach Toys for Kids Toddlers, Sand Bucket and Shovels Set with Mesh Bag, Sand Castle Toys for Beach, Travel Sand Toys, Sandbox Toys for Toddlers Kids Age 3-10

What a great idea to do a Midsummer Home Décor Refresh! Penny from Penny’s Vintage Home did just that and everything looks so beautiful.

The Painted Apron offered up this easy-to-follow tutorial for painting a lovely blue hydrangea flower in a vase.

The Not So Creative Cook gets, actually, quite creative here with this yummy coconut pudding dessert called Maja Mais. Isn’t it pretty? I’ll bet it tastes amazing, too!

Large hand-crocheted handbag

The Sak Sequoia Hobo Bag – Hand Crochet Large Women’s Purse for Everyday & Travel – Durable Handbag & Tote With Zipper Pocket

ON TO THE PARTY!

Thank you for joining us this week whether you are a blogger sharing your latest posts OR a reader enjoying all of the inspirational shares! Don’t forget to drop by and say hello to all our hostesses, they always appreciate your visit! Here are all of our hostesses at Happiness Is Homemade!

Linda @ A Labour of Life

Sinea @ Ducks ‘n a Row

Beverly @ Eclectic Red Barn

Katie @ Love My Messy Messy Mess

Mel @ Décor Craft Design

Niki @ Life as a Leo Wife

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Happiness is Homemade Party

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Goodbye spring, hello summer!!! Have you been enjoying it? I sure am! I even started making some new dishes to bring to family cookouts and get togethers. This is my favorite time of year. Sinea here, from Ducks ‘n a Row, and I am your host for the month of July. Welcome to the Happiness is Homemade Link Party

Speaking of making new recipes, this party is sure to have a lot of great ones. You have to check them out! For those who may be new to our party, this is what it is about. Each week bloggers come by and share their latest and best recipes, crafts, home décor projects, DIY, kids activities and more! It is all here for you to enjoy.

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links ♥

When you find something you like, click on it and please PIN it. Pins help our blogs to prosper. I kid you, not! Many of us gain many new readers through Pinterest so you are doing a good deed when you pin a picture that you like. Our bloggers also love it when you leave an encouraging comment on their posts.

So, here are some really great features from last week’s party for you to enjoy!

Featured Posts

This DIY Tin Can Vase Holder from Décor Craft Design is so pretty. What a striking image it will present on a table or in an entry way. So beautiful.

Crystal from Crystal and Comp shared this delicious Blueberry Salsa Recipe, served with cinnamon crisps.

Handmade

The Sak Sequoia Hobo Bag – Hand Crochet Large Women’s Purse for Everyday & Travel – Durable Handbag & Tote With Zipper Pocket

Handmade

Don’t these Pineapple Soda Cupcakes from 3 Boys and a Dog look gorgeous?

I just love unique but EASY pastry recipes. This delicious Zucchini Galette from A Painted Apron uses a premade pie crust – just my kind of recipe! Isn’t it pretty? I’ll bet it tastes as great as it looks, too.

Would you like to be a part of Happiness Is Homemade? We are looking for hostesses to join our team. If you are interested, please email any one of the Happiness Is Homemade hostesses and let them know. We would love to have you join our team.

ON TO THE PARTY!

Linda @ A Labour of Life

Sinea @ Ducks ‘n a Row

Beverly @ Eclectic Red Barn

Katie @ Love My Messy Messy Mess

Mel @ Décor Craft Design

Niki @ Life as a Leo Wife

Who makes more PET HAIR??? Cats or Dogs?

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Duplos Kid Storage Box – A Parent’s Dream Come True!

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Ever step on a building block in the middle of the night? OUCH! It happens all the time and, when it does, it is NOT fun!

So when I saw this DUPLO storage box for kids, which doubles as a play space for them to play on, I just had to show you! Isn’t it grand? The description says that it works for intermediate sized MEGA BLOKS, too.

So, if you love that your kids enjoy building but hate finding pieces all over the house, you might want to get one (or more) of these foldable boxes to solve the problem. Grandparents and school teachers will love them, too.

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links ♥

Plastic Foldable Kid Storage Box, 25L Storage Toy Bins with Building Base for Duplo Bricks, 26Qt. Toy Chest for Duplo Blocks, White

And, after you have the storage, you can buy them more building blocks! LOL

LEGO® DUPLO Classic Deluxe Brick Box 10914 Starter Set – Features Storage Box, Bricks, Duplo Figures, Dog, and Car, Creative Play, Great Early Learning Toy for Toddlers Ages 18+ Months ad

LEGO DUPLO My First Number Train 10847 Learning and Counting Train Set Building Kit and Educational Toy for 2-5 Year Olds (23 Pieces) ad

LEGO DUPLO Town Steam Train 10874 Remote Control Set – Learning Toy and Daycare Accessory for Toddlers, Boys, Girls, and Kids 2-5 Years Old, Push and Go Battery Powered Set with RC Function ad

Foldable storage for #kids DUPLO blocks! Get 'em out from under foot. Nice thing, it doubles as a base for playing with them, too. #storage #toys Share on X

LEGO® DUPLO Classic Alphabet Town 10935, Educational Early Learning Toys for Babies & Toddlers Ages +18 Months, Learn Colors, Letters and Shapes with Large Bricks ad

LEGO DUPLO Town Truck & Tracked Excavator Construction Vehicle 10931 Toy for Toddlers 2-4 Years Old Girls & Boys, Fine Motor Skills Development and Learning Toy

Enjoy!

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How To Play Winter Olympics With Fun Indoor Games For Kids

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Imaginative play is a powerful way to teach preschool and kindergarten children. Little kids just love to pretend! When it comes to the O is for Olympics lesson, children at the tender age of 3, 4 or 5 years old have no memory of the Olympics. For the most part, they have no clue what it is. That is why I really look forward to our Letter O lesson when a Winter Olympics year rolls around. Learning about the Olympics is exciting and new! [Our school is closed during the summer months so I wait to teach it in a Winter Olympics year.]

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links. ♥

This year I had the help of a brilliant gym teacher, Jennifer. She put all of our games together. The rest of the teachers helped me make the pretend medals and team pennants.

Pretend Olympic Medals For Kids #ad

On the day of our pretend Winter Olympics, all of our little onlookers also participated as athletes. Everyone paraded in, waving pennants and singing “God Bless America” and everyone played in the games. All of our athletes were on Team USA! As we waited for the games to begin, we chanted “USA! USA!” and waived our pennants. The teachers did our best to dress like coaches wearing sweat pants, sneakers, zip up hoodies and USA stickers . My teaching assistant wore her gym teacher whistle, too!

Games For Kids to Pretend They Are In The Olympics

The three indoor events we played were speed skating, curling and the luge. Our students are so young – ages 3, 4 and 5 – that we did not feel comfortable putting them in the luge competition so we brought in large teddy bears for them to push across the room. Fun!

Speed Skating: three children participate in each race. Place two pieces of construction paper on the floor in front of each child. Still wearing their sneakers, your little Olympic skaters stand on the papers and, at the sound of “Go!” they “skate” on the pieces of paper across the gym. First, second and third to arrive are the gold, silver and bronze medal winners. Then, they immediately go to the awards area of the gym to wear the medals and have some of the onlookers cheer for them and exclaim “Yaaa! You’re the winners!” We used a step stool for the gold medal winner to stand in the middle, higher than the other two. For a nice little addition, we also took their pictures.

Curling: our gym teacher brought in three angle brooms and three lightweight bean bags. The students had to push the bags on the gym floor, using their broom. Three participants in each heat of curling = three winners!

The Luge: as I said, to avoid accidents with our little kiddos, we chose to have stuffed teddy bears ride in the luge. The teacher brought in three flying-saucer snow sleds and three large stuffed toys. The students would push the sleds with the bears riding on them to the finish line. Those bears took several spills, proving the wisdom in not having children riding on the sleds!

It was such a fun day. Coupled with our Fruit Loop Olympic Craft and Olympic Bingo Game Activity, this gym class made our O is for Olympics day complete!

Teach your preschool and kindergarten age children all about the Olympics with some really fun pretend play. Put together your own little kid Winter Olympic games! #Olympics #preschool #kids #tips Share on X

Do you have any indoor Winter Olympics type game ideas we can add next time? Please share them!

Enjoy!

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How To Make Play Dough In The Microwave

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I love making play dough. In fact, I am making some today! There is something fun about developing this colorful toy by yourself, knowing that a child you love will have hours of play ahead of him. Making microwave play dough is by far the easiest way!

Microwave Play Dough Recipe #kids #preschool

Th classic recipe is cooked on the stove, which works great but it takes a lot of “elbow-grease” stirring and stirring. So, when I came across a recipe for MICROWAVE play dough, I had to give it a try.

Oh my goodness, is this so easy and the play dough turns out just as pliable and deeply colorful as ever. I won’t be making the old recipe again!

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links!

Neon food coloring makes your DIY play dough even more vibrant in color!

Microwave Play Dough Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 generous T cooking oil

10-20 drops Neon food coloring**

2 tsp. cream of tartar***

1/3 cup salt

1 cup bleached flour*

*Bleached flour is whiter and gives you a truer color.

**Neon food coloring is the most vivid.

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Melissa & Doug Modeling Dough Kit

Directions

Use a microwave-safe mixing bowl. This process takes about 5 minutes including prep.

Combine water, oil, food coloring and stir.

Add cream of tartar, and stir again.

Add salt, stir.

Gradually add flour and stir as you go along to prevent lumps.

Microwave on high for 30 seconds.*

Stir.

Another 30 seconds.

Stir.

A third time, 30 seconds.

Stir.

A fourth time, 30 seconds.

Stir.

It will now be in a ball.

Let sit for 2 minutes.

*Tip: Cooking time may vary depending upon microwave ovens and/or the bowls you use. I have found that sometimes I have to add another 30-60 seconds. So, consider total cooking time to be between 2 – 3 minutes at 30 minute intervals.

Remove from bowl and put the play dough ball on a dinner plate to cool.*

Wrap cooled play dough in plastic wrap or a zippered plastic food storage bag and store at room temperature.

*I spray the plate with cooking spray to make it easily removable from the plate.

Little Quack’s Hide & Seek Board Book

Microwave homemade playdough recipe -- so easy you will want to make every color in the rainbow!!! #crafts #kids #preschool #playdough Share on X

Don’t want to make playdough? How about air dry clay? Sago Brothers Air Dry Clay 24 Colors, Kids Toys Modeling Clay Kit, No-Bake No Mess Magic Clay Crafts, Christmas Birthday Gifts for Kids Girls Boys

Enjoy!

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Got a zoo-load of stuffies? Here is a nice way to store them so that they can “look out” and see your children in the room. Kids love that!

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Letter U is for Under the Sea Fizzing Sensory Activity for Preschool

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Every year our preschool class learns about ocean life. Sometimes I teach the topic using the letter “O is for Ocean.” Other years, I build the day around the letter U and teach it as “U is for Under The Sea.” Either way, it is so much fun – especially with this under the sea fizzing sensory activity!

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This preschool lesson includes an Ocean Paper Plate Craft that little children just love to make, teamed up with this ocean fizzing activity. As we are winding down at the end of school, I read them the adorable story “The Pout Pout Fish [A Pout Pout Fish Adventure]” It makes for a perfect day.

Adorable children’s story about The Pout Pout Fish

You know how children love surprises? Well, there definitely are surprises built into this sensory experience. The children will each discover a hidden treasure inside their own baking soda ball [how-to make them below] that you have placed in the sensory bin. Just give each student a squirt bottle filled with white vinegar, tinted blue with food coloring. Have them squirt their baking soda ball until it dissolves, revealing a little plastic undersea animal toy, which they can keep.

Think about it. This under the sea fizzing experience introduces them to basic chemistry – vinegar, when it meets baking soda, FIZZES! Of course, before you are finished, add water to the bin to let them play. Kids LOVE to play with the toys in the bin.

How To Create Your Under The Sea Experience

Now, don’t be overwhelmed by all the parts to this activity. It is so easy to put together and worth every bit of the effort. Your kids will love it!

Overview: you will build an “oceanscape” with sea creatures for your students to observe, touch and play with. They will also discover what happens when vinegar mixes with baking soda (FIZZ!!!)

FUN Letter O is for Ocean fizzing sensory experience for kids! #kidsactivities #preschool #sensoryplay Can also be used for Letter U is for Under the Sea Share on X

O is for Ocean preschool fizzing fun #preschool #sensory

Supplies

large clear plastic clothing storage bin

drop cloth for underneath the bin

small plastic toy sea creatures

sea shells

glass aquarium gems

river rocks

baking soda “rocks” that you will make

plastic squeeze condiment bottles

white vinegar

blue food coloring

baking soda (large box)

towels

smocks

dish pan

The bin that we previously used for a colored rice sensory table was perfect for this activity. It is actually a garment storage container that has wheels (wheels are NOT necessary but it just has them) and a lid.

You’ll want to protect your floor. We purchased and inexpensive plastic table cloth meant for a sea themed birthday party. It was a beautiful drop cloth for this activity. A plastic shower curtain liner would work just as well.

How To Make Baking Soda “Rocks”

Scoop dry baking soda into a large mixing bowl.

NOTE: One 8 oz. baking soda box will yield approximately 3 baking soda balls.

Gradually add water till it is a consistency that can be molded into balls.

Place a plastic sea creature toy or small sea shell inside the baking soda ball and mold it with your hands like you would a snow ball.

Gently place it on a tray to dry.

For effect, you may want to use a sea shell to imprint the outside of the damp baking soda rock.

Allow them to dry for at least 24 hours till hard.

Note that you still will want to handle them gently.

Vinegar Squirt Bottles

These plastic condiment bottles will be filled with white vinegar and a couple of drops of blue food coloring.

O is for Ocean fizzing experience for #preschool #ece #STEM

How To Set Up Your Ocean Scene

Spread the table cloth/drop cloth on the floor.

Put the empty plastic bin on top of it.

Arrange river rocks, glass gems and sea shells around the bin.

Stage plastic sea animals all around.

Time for your children to come in and see!

*To keep the vinegar smell off their clothes, cover them in a big t-shirt or smock with sleeves.

** Be sure to use full strength white vinegar. Cleaning vinegar is diluted and will not give the fizz effect that you are looking for.

Kids sensory bin for teaching about under the sea life #oceans

Now, gently place baking soda rocks in the dry bin.

Give a blue tinted, vinegar filled condiment bottle to each child.

Have them squirt a rock and see what happens.

This is the science part! Baking soda + vinegar = fizz

Watch it fizz and see the look of delight on their faces!

After a while, the plastic sea creature will “emerge” from the rock.

Now fill the dish pan with cool water and gently pour it into the bin.

Let them play and have fun!

Letter U is for Under the Sea sensory activity for #preschool and #kindergarten! #kids Share on X

Adorable under the sea preschool craft with blue paper plates, bottle caps and fish crackers. #preschool #kidscrafts #kindergarten

O is for Ocean Paper Plate – Bottle Cap Craft for Kids

Enjoy!