We rarely engage in messy sensory play around here, mostly because I'm afraid of the mess. No, seriously. However, I am trying my best to introduce more messy play simply because my boys love it.
So, what do you do when you find a container of Cool Whip that has expired? Well, play with it, of course!
I had an idea to try out tape resist on mirrors, especially since my boys love tape. And I figured that the strips of tape would ultimately look like animal stripes...so, I decided to take the idea of tiger stripes and zebra stripes and recreate them with some messy mirror sensory play. Especially since our theme for this month's Light & Reflections series is nature and animals.
The result was this animal prints mirror sensory play activity, which is a fun twist on traditional tape resist art.
Animal Prints Mirror Sensory Play: What You'll Need
I happened to have only one color of liquid watercolors on hand: orange. So, between that and the white Cool Whip, I figured we could make some imitation tiger (using the orange) and zebra (using the plain Cool Whip) prints. Here's what we used for this activity:
- One container of Cool Whip (expired) - You could use shaving cream instead.
- Orange liquid watercolor - You could use food coloring instead, but liquid watercolors are our preference around here simply because of how easy they clean up. But if you want to keep it taste safe, food coloring is the better option.
- Green painter's tape - To create stripes on the mirror.
- Small mirrors - I found these at the dollar store.
- Scissors - To cut the tape into smaller pieces.
- Foam paintbrushes (optional) - In case the kids don't want to get messy or touch the Cool Whip with their hands.
To prep the activity, I first scooped some of the Cool Whip into another bowl and mixed it with a couple of drops of orange liquid watercolor. I left the rest of the Cool Whip in the original container plain.
Then, my boys cut strips of tape and placed them onto their mirrors. The boys actually worked together to cut the tape, which was really cute. Especially since K would slide the roll of tape around his feet or ankle to hold it in place, like so:
And now it's ready for for painting and exploring.
Exploring Animal Patterns with Sensory Play & a Twist on Tape Resist Art
We talked about how tigers and zebras both have stripes and then I let them decide which animal they wanted to "paint." K chose tiger (aka the orange Cool Whip) and J was happy to have zebra (plain white Cool Whip). Then they started painting over their sporadic animal stripes made from tape.
At first, J was a little unsure of the Cool Whip. But, before we knew it, he was thoroughly massaging it with both hands. Here he is examining the Cool Whip on his finger and then fully embracing the mess:
K was also very tentative to touch the Cool Whip so, after painting a small section, he requested a paintbrush. I was happy to oblige.
You can see the two different painting approaches below. One was delicately painting with a paintbrush while the other got downright messy.
Once they were done painting, we peeled off the tape to take a peek at the animal prints. Here's what we revealed:
The end result was pretty neat, although it didn't really resemble any zebra or tiger that I've ever seen. But this activity was more about the process than the end product. Speaking of which, the process was definitely different and fun, albeit a bit messy. But surely nothing a towel couldn't quickly wipe up!
Other Animal & Nature Activity Ideas Your Kids Will Love
This activity is part of the monthly Light & Reflections series where a few blogging friends and I share fun ways for kids to explore and learn using light and mirrors. Here are the other ideas from this month's theme of animals and nature:
Ladybug Suncatcher from Happily Ever Mom
Vet Office Pretend Play from Still Playing School
Light Table Nature Mosaics with Loose Parts from Where Imagination Grows
If you're willing to give some messy sensory play a try, I hope you consider trying this animal prints mirror sensory play idea.
