If you're looking for a fun sensory play activity for toddlers and preschoolers, then try this colorful tie dye soap foam sensory play activity.
Soap foam sensory play is a favorite around here. Especially with how easy it is to customize and switch things up. You can just add some new colors or even a fun scent and voila, something new and exciting.
Earlier this summer, I put together this colorful tie dye soap foam sensory bin for my boys and they absolutely loved it! It made for a fun outdoor activity on a hot day.
But things did get a bit messy with this activity. And by messy, I mean a clean messy. It is foam soap after all.
Tie Dye Soap Foam Sensory Bin: What You'll Need
To put together this sensory play activity, I used:
- Soap foam - made with a some liquid soap such as Dawn dish soap and a splash of water, whipped until bubbly and foamy
- Liquid watercolors or food coloring - to create the tie dye effect
- Electric hand mixer - to create the fun marbled swirls in the foam soap, but a whisk would work too
In a large container, add a generous amount of dish soap and some splashes of water. Use an electric hand mixer (or whisk) to whip it all up until it's super fluffy and foamy.
Next, add some drops of liquid watercolors in a variety of colors. The trick here is to scatter the color drops all over because we're trying to create a tie dye effect here, remember?
I then used the electric hand mixer on a slow speed for a second or two to create the marbled tie dye effect. So I would pick one spot that had a single color, mix a bit, and stop. Then I'd pick a different spot with maybe a different color, mix a bit, and stop.
Soon we had a really cool sensory bin - marbled with multiple colors - ready for play!
Toddlers & Preschoolers will Love this Fun Activity!
I had a feeling that this sensory activity could get messy fast, which it did, as you will soon see. So I'm glad that I took this sensory bin outside for play. Also, I'm glad that I encouraged the kids to wear their swimsuits too. Taking these proactive measures probably turned this activity from a great one into an amazing one. I mean it did turn into one heck of a great outdoor activity!
The boys absolutely loved swirling the tie dye soap foam around, talking about how mixing one color with another made the soap foam change colors.
Soon this tie dye soap foam became a full body sensory experience.
The boys ended up covered from head to toe in soap foam, which required extra careful rinsing to avoid getting it in their eyes. Lots of towels and lots of water from the hose in the backyard were required for clean up. That's the bonus of outdoor activities like this...clean up is a breeze! And almost as fun as the original activity itself.
Judging by the smiles on my boys' faces, I'd say the mess was 100% worth it. They clearly had a lot of fun with this tie dye soap foam sensory play activity.
Other Sensory Play Activity Ideas You'll Love
