Sensory play is a popular area in the classroom. This is am important area as many children have sensory issues as well as the amount of fine motor development that occurs with sensory play. This is one area that I am not sure about adding in at this point in my pre-K classroom as it will be tough to clean between children. But, you can add some of this fun into your daily play at home. Here is a fun… and clean one!
Dish soap foam is a fun activity for the kiddos. And you have everything you need at home.
- Dish soap– any kind
- water
- electric mixer
- food coloring (optional)
You need a lot of soap and a little water. I was finishing up the end of a soap bottle so I used the water to rinse out the bottle and get a bit more bubbles out of the bottle. Put the soap in the bottom of the container you want to use. Add some water to the dish. Use an electric mixer to whip up the soap into foam. Keep mixing until it is tight foams (think making meringue).
“Three requirements must be met in order for foam to form. Mechanical work is needed to increase the surface area. This can occur by agitation, dispersing a large volume of gas into a liquid, or injecting a gas into a liquid. The second requirement is that surfactants or surface active components must be present to decrease surface tension. Finally, the foam must form more quickly than it breaks down.” Foam Definition in Chemistry from ThoughtCo
My suggestion is to have your child play with the foam in the sink. If you do not add food coloring… your child will have fun… and your sink will be cleaned! If you follow my Instagram @mydayinpre_k, you can see a video of me mixing the foam.
