Road Foam Play Set

I am slightly addicted to making quick and easy play sets out of foam.  Why not?  Foam can be transformed into practically anything.  It's great for imaginative play.  It's easy to cut.  It sticks to things when wet.  As a result, foam ends up being a great way to bring some imaginative play into the bath tub.

Materials

• Black foam
• Colored foam
• Silver or white permanent marker
• Scissors
• Water (or bath tub!)

Cut the black foam into strips of various lengths.  Draw a dashed line in the middle of each strip with the permanent marker.  Use scraps of colored foam to make cars for the road.

Strips of road and two cars made out of foam.

Initially, I set up the invitation in the living room using a bucket with a small amount of water.  Then the boys were able to assemble the roads on the window.

J and K checking out the new play set.

Of course, J turned them into a number 8.

The boys also tried this play set out in the bath tub.  How fun!

A roadway on the bathroom wall.

Homemade Craft Foam Numbers (or Letters)

It's easy to make your own craft foam letters and numbers for the bath with this tutorial. Here's how to make large craft foam numbers (or letters!).

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When my oldest son was about two, I made him this set of large foam numbers (two of each digit). 

Why? 

Well, he would often spend hours playing with the numbers from our foam play mat, as one does when you have hypernumeracy. But the mat only has one set of numbers from 0-9. 

When he was playing with the numbers from the foam mat, I noticed that he would count up in order, but skip over numbers like 11 or 22 because he only had one of each number. So I decided to make him a new set of numbers so that he could happily count to larger numbers without having to skip over the double digit numbers.

The result was his most favorite toy for years to come: these giant craft foam numbers.

Homemade Craft Foam Numbers & Letters: What You'll Need to Make Your Own

To make your own set of giant foam numbers, you'll need:

• Sheets of craft foam

• Scissors

• Pencil

• Templates (optional): could be something you print off or a foam play mat that has numbers that pop out

How to Make these Large Foam Letters or Numbers

I used the numbers from our foam play mat as a template, tracing their shape onto the craft foam with a pencil. If you don't have a foam play mat, you can freehand draw the numbers or find a font you like on the computer and print off some number templates to trace.

Then I simply cut the numbers out with scissors. That's it.

DIY Craft Foam Numbers for Kids

Like I mentioned above, we have had these homemade numbers in rotation for two years now. You will see that a few numbers have been repaired with tape over the years, but other than that, they are in great shape.

When playing with these numbers in the past, J would usually just sort and organize them to make different number combinations or he would count by ones starting at zero - hello, hypernumeracy! He would usually just play with them on the floor like so...

J, however, hasn't played with these numbers for a few months now as they have been buried at the bottom of our busy bag box. So I decided to pull them out the other day, presenting them in a new way (K was napping at this point). I pulled out the couch in our living room so that J could access the large window in our living room. I then placed the numbers in a tray of water so that he could play with them on the window. In case you didn't know, craft foam sticks when wet! That means you can totally make your own set of foam letters and numbers for the bath, if you'd like.

Here he is dipping the numbers into a shallow container of water...

And sticking them to the window.

This boy loves his numbers! And these homemade craft foam numbers have been so well loved over the years. Easily one of the best things I ever made him.

Other Number Related Resources You'll Love

Simple Fine Motor Math Counting Tray

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Number & Math Sensory Bags for Kids

Ice Cream Foam Play Set

I love craft foam.  And I especially like that, when wet, craft foam sticks to glass, tile, or the bath tub.  As a result, it is a fun, easy, and cheap way to come up with homemade toys.  The other day I came up with a fun ice cream play set for the boys.

Materials

• Foam of various colors
• Ice cream scoop
• Container of water (or a bath tub)

Cut ice cream cone shapes out of a light tan/brown color.  Then cut out ice cream scoop shapes out of a variety of colors.

J is building a supreme ice cream cone.

I put all the ice cream parts into a container with a small amount of water in it.  I made sure to coat each piece with a little bit of water.  I also put out an ice cream scoop so that the boys could really pretend to be running an ice cream parlor.  I chose to set this up by the large window in our living room, but it works awesome in the bath tub too.

The invitation

J was so excited.  He loves ice cream.  So he started building some cute little ice cream cones.

Adding another scoop

Then he built a huge ice cream cone, with a cone on the top as well as the bottom.

I'd eat that ice cream cone.  Just sayin'...

And if you're building ice cream cones, it only makes sense to pretend to lick the ice cream...

Yum!

K also tried out the ice cream set.  He focused mostly on getting the scoops of ice cream to stick to the window.

Picking out a flavor to use.

It sticks!

Then, of course, it only made sense to make some ice cream numbers!

I tried to type something witty, but every time I typed
number 2, I thought of poop.  Clearly, I am a mom
and I have a childish sense of humor.

The number 3

A really awesome number 4

The next day, we used the ice cream set in the bath tub.  It worked great!

Bath time fun

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Foam Play Set

The boys love reading Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."  We always have to stop extra long on the food pages so they can try to poke their fingers through the holes.   That's why I put together a play set for the boys.  The play set is made from foam, which means it can be used in or out of the bath tub.   I will explain the two different ways to play below.

The Materials

• A copy of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle
• A short green pipe cleaner
• Foam to make all the foods in the book
• Scissors, hot glue gun, and hole punch to assemble the different foods

I made all of the food using foam and a hot glue gun.  I tried to match the colors to the ones in the book as best as I could.  Then I hole punched each one so that the caterpillar (aka pipe cleaner) could be pushed through the foods.

The play set and the book that inspired it!

Option #1: Bath Time

For this option, the pipe cleaner isn't used.  The foam shapes will stick to the tub when wet.  Read the story to your child while they are in the tub.  Encourage them to find the foods and stick them to the tub as you read the book.

Option #2: Regular Story Time
As you read the story to your child, encourage them to find the foods.  Then have them use the pipe cleaner as the caterpillar, guiding it through the holes in the different foods.

The Invitation to Play (Option #2)

F was over for the afternoon.  She happened to spot the food sitting on top of the deep freeze and asked if she could check it out.  Of course, I obliged, but not before reading the story to her.

F has the caterpillar eating the apple.  She even made
a chomp sound as the caterpillar went in.  I was also
surprised to learn that she had never read this book before.

On to the pears...

J participated by helping her locate the different foods, especially the oranges.  For some reason, he wanted to hoard the oranges.  Then he asked to play after she was done.

Close up of J feeding the caterpillar an apple.

This play set is good for developing hand-eye coordination and for gauging your child's reading comprehension.  Your child can also practice their counting skills as each day of the week has a set number of foods (e.g., Monday had one apple and Thursday had four strawberries).  You can also discuss the concept of weeks and days with your child.  

Regardless, I think that the kids will enjoy bringing this classic story to life with this play set.

Soap Foam Bath Paints

I came across this blog the other day and instantly fell in love with it.  When she posted about soap foam, I just knew I had to try it.  However, white is boring and wouldn't work for what I had planned.  So her post inspired me to make some colorful bath time paint.

Soap foam bath paints

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How to Make Soap Foam Bath Paints for Kids

Here's what you'll need to make soap foam bath paints:

• Castile soap or any baby friendly soap, approximately 1/4 cup
• Water, a teaspoon or two
• Electric mixer
• 6 cup muffin tin
• Food coloring or liquid watercolors
• OPTIONAL: Paint brushes

I mixed the soap and water together in a bowl using an electric mixer until it was nice and foamy.  My measurements are approximate since I tend to eyeball things instead of using measuring cups. 

Then I spooned the mixture into the muffin tin, added a tiny amount of food coloring to each cup, and stirred. The longer you mix it, the foamier it gets. I discovered after our third batch (yes, J wanted to do it that many times in a row) that I didn't make the original batch foamy enough. It almost looks like shaving foam if you mix it longer.  However, I found that the lighter foamy texture of the original batch was perfect for painting the bath tub with.

Close up of the "paint"

I put the muffin tin and paint brushes in the bath tub, without water.  You can certainly do this activity with water in the tub since the muffin tin will float.  And you can certainly use these "paints" as finger paints.

The boys started painting the walls, the tub, and eventually themselves.  J, of course, practiced writing some numbers.  And K even gave the "paint" a taste, which is why you should use a nontoxic soap and as little food coloring as possible.

They started to mix the colors

K rubbing the soap foam in his fingers

K's painted little toes

Just an idea of how messy things got

Once they were good and messy, I filled the tub with water to clean both the tub and their messy little bodies.  J, however, wanted to "paint" two more times after draining the bath tub.  I guess that means we will be doing this activity quite a bit in the future.

Other Ideas You'll Love

Soap Foam Dough Sensory Recipe

25 Soap Foam Sensory Activities for Kids

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