Cinnamon Soap Foam Sensory Play

This cinnamon soap foam sensory play recipe makes for a great base for a construction sensory bin for toddlers and preschoolers.

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Of all the soap foam sensory bins that we have made and played with over the years, I think my favorite might be this cinnamon one.

Not only does this sensory bin smell amazing, but the cinnamon gives the soap foam a really unique texture and look. It almost looks like sand, making it a great sensory bin filler for construction themed sensory bins.

So, if you're looking to switch things up and try something new, this cinnamon soap foam sensory play activity might be just what you need. You can let kids explore it on its own or pair it with some vehicles - anything goes!

Cinnamon Soap Foam Sensory Play Activity: What You'll Need

This sensory bin comes together super quick and smells delicious (although please don't eat it). Here's what you'll need to recreate it yourself:

• Soap foam - Made from mixing liquid soap with a splash of water and whipped until bubbly and foaming.

• Ground cinnamon - Add a few sprinkles and mix it up. Continue to add more cinnamon until the soap foam looks a bit like dirt. How much you use will depend on how much soap foam you make.

• Construction trucks and/or tractor toys (something like these would work great) - Optional, but fun.

To make the soap foam, simply combine liquid hand soap with a splash of water and mix thoroughly using a hand mixer, electric mixer, or stand mixer. Whip until foamy and bubbly. Then add a generous amount of cinnamon and mix until well incorporated.

Alternatively, you can use a foaming hand soap dispenser to make soap foam and then add the cinnamon afterwards. My boys like this method because they like to pump the soap dispenser. However, this method usually takes a bit longer to fill your sensory bin container, especially if you are using a large container.

Since the cinnamon soap foam ends up looking like fluffy dirt or sand, I decided to pair it with some tractors and a construction truck. After all, I really think that this soap foam would be a great base for a construction themed sensory bin.

A Simple Construction Sensory Bin Idea with Cinnamon Soap Foam "Dirt"

Both of my boys really enjoyed the addition of tractors to the sensory bin. They especially loved driving the tractors through the soap foam so that their wheels would get all dirty.

And they also loved "washing" the tractors with the soap foam (their words, obviously). But considering the base of this sensory bin is soap, the vehicles are sort of getting cleaned...right?

Speaking of cleaning, here's an easy clean up tip for this sensory bin. Keep a bucket of clean water and a towel handy so that kids can clean their hands (or toys!) along the way. I also like to use a shower curtain underneath all of our sensory bins to help contain the mess. Then you can toss the shower curtain into the washing machine for easy clean up!

Overall, this cinnamon soap foam sensory play activity was a huge hit. It smelled amazing and was tons of fun for both of my boys.

Soap Foam Dough {Sensory Dough Recipe for Kids}

How to make soap foam dough - a fun homemade play dough alternative for kids! It's a great sensory dough recipe for kids of all ages.

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We have created a new favorite sensory dough recipe: soap foam dough! 

This soap foam dough quickly became a favorite of my youngest son's. It is moldable like play dough, but snaps cleanly like silly putty. 

It is super simple to make, uses only two ingredients (or three if you want colored dough), and takes only a few minutes to prepare. 

It uses ingredients you likely already have on hand, requires no cooking, and is easy to clean up since it just melts when water is added to it. 

Intrigued yet? 

I know you are. 

What is Soap Foam Dough?

Soap foam dough grew out of my kids' love for soap foam sensory bins. It makes a lovely alternative to play dough and is way easier to make. Like I mentioned above, there's no cooking involved, like traditional play dough. There's also no weird ingredients that you might not have on hand (like cream of tartar).

It's just a simple homemade play dough alternative that's a fun sensory experience for kids.

My three year old wanted to make red, purple, and green dough. Isn't it lovely?

But what is really neat about soap foam dough is that it snaps cleanly like silly putty.

Since soap foam dough can snap in half like it does, it makes it the perfect sensory dough for exploring fractions. Or for stacking.

The dough looks even more pretty when the different colors are combined. The end result is a beautiful marbled dough.

This dough cleans up really easily since it is made with soap, but before cleaning up, why not turn the soap foam dough into some colorful, messy oobleck. Simply add some water to the soap foam dough until it has an oobleck like texture (usually it's a 1:1 ratio of water and cornstarch).

Ready to make soap foam dough? Find out how to make this sensory dough below.

How to Make Soap Foam Dough - A Fun Sensory Dough for Kids!

This soap foam dough is just one of the beautiful activities you can find in my book Pop! Squirt! Splash!, but to give you a little taste of what you will find in the book, I will show you how to make this beautiful dough.

To make soap foam dough, you will need:

• 2 cups of foaming hand soap (or make your own soap foam)
• 3/4 cup of cornstarch
• 1/4 tbsp of liquid watercolors (optional)

To make soap foam dough, combine the foaming hand soap with the liquid watercolors in a bowl. I actually make my own foaming hand soap with castile soap. Slowly add the cornstarch. Mix and knead the dough until it is smooth. You may need to sprinkle up to 1/2 tbsp more cornstarch into the dough or add extra soap if needed. It should not be sticky and the dough should snap in half when you put pressure on the ball of dough. Here's a video tutorial for making the dough:

Other Sensory Dough Recipes to Try

Edible Sludge Sensory Play

Sand Foam Dough

Erupting Soap Foam Dough

Love this activity? Well, you can find it and many more wonderful hands-on activities for kids in the brand new book Pop! Squirt! Splash! Hands-on Activities for Kids Using Soap, Water, & Bubbles! Or take a peek at these other fabulous activities:

Soap Shaving Bookmark from Sugar Aunts

Hands-on Activities Using Soap, Water, & Bubbles from Where Imagination Grows

Water Play: Sorting Land & Water Animals from Still Playing School

Floating Soap Boats from Fireflies & Mudpies

DIY Angry Birds Knock Down Game from Lalymom

Gross Motor Color Mixing from House of Burke

Jell-O Soap Foam Sensory Play from Fun-A-Day!

Soap Cloud Painting from Mamas Like Me

Easter Egg Slime

This Easter egg slime is so cool! Find out how to make Easter slime with mini glitter eggs from the dollar store with this simple recipe.

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We've just recently hopped on board with the whole slime craze. We avoided it for years because of concerns with J's oral sensory seeking and because I hadn't found a recipe that used ingredients that I was comfortable with. 

However, we have recently discovered a slime recipe that works for our family and have been experimenting with it ever since. 

This colorful Easter slime recipe is so fun! 

The mixture of gooey, stretchy slime with glittery squishy eggs makes for a wonderful tactile experience that the kids (and I!) couldn't resist!

Easter Egg Slime Recipe

This slime recipe is easy in terms of ingredients, but I warn you now, those slime videos you see on social media are all lies! Seriously, they make it look so easy.

For me, slime making is far from glamorous. I end up with glue everywhere! My hands. My pants. My countertop. You name it, there's probably glue there too.

So if you're ready to brave the gooey mess, then give this Easter egg slime a try! It's worth the mess, I promise. 

Just head to CBC Parents for the full recipe.

{Click here to get the full Easter slime recipe on CBC Parents!}

Fall Leaves Sensory Bin with Soap Foam

Looking for fall sensory activities for kids? Try this simple fall leaves sensory bin with soap foam.

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We've done our fair share of fall sensory bins over the years using a variety of materials such as water and popcorn kernels. This one, however, uses soap foam as the base.

Now, if you haven't made a sensory bin with soap foam before, you're seriously missing out. It's easily one of our favorite sensory bin fillers. The texture is silky smooth and incredibly calming to play with. 

Soap foam is also very versatile. You can simply toss in some scent, a little bit of color, a dash of glitter, and/or small materials or decorations to customize soap foam to fit any theme or season you can think of. Much like we did here with this fall leaves sensory bin.

So if you're looking for a simple yet fun autumn sensory play idea, then look no further than this activity.

A version of this post originally appeared on the CBC Parents website.

What You Need for this Autumn Sensory Play Activity

For this fall leaf sensory bin, we used:

• Liquid soap - To make our soap foam (instructions below)

• Acrylic leaves table scatter - You can find these at Michael's, but many dollar stores now carry them as well. You could use foam leaves if you'd prefer or if that's what you have on hand.

• Small bucket of water (optional)

• Towel (optional)

First, we need to make some soap foam. How much you will need will depend on the size of your sensory bin container so feel free to start with a small amount and make more as needed.

To make the soap foam, mix a generous amount of liquid soap (you can use dish soap or something like castile soap) with a splash or two of water. Use a blender, stand mixer, hand mixer, or whisk to mix the soap and water together until it's a thick, frothy bubble foam.

Once your soap foam is made, you can add other things such as food coloring or liquid watercolors, essential oils, or even glitter to make it more interesting. This step is optional. We kept our soap foam plain. However, we used almond scented castile soap so our soap foam was already lightly scented.

Then simply add the acrylic fall leaves to the soap foam and it's ready for play. It should look something like this:

Whenever we do soap foam bins, I like to include a small bucket and towel off to the side for quick and easy clean up. However, this step is optional.

Time to Play with Soap Foam in this Fall Leaves Sensory Bin!

My two boys started off by swirling their hands around in the soap foam, trying to bury all the leaves as quickly as they could. And it wasn't long before all the leaves disappeared into the bubbly foam...

So the boys started digging around in the foam to try and find the leaves that they buried. It was like a fall treasure hunt!

Once they found some leaves, they would pull them out and drop them into the bucket of clean water. Then they would proceed to dry them off with a towel. Talk about sneaking in some practical life skills!

The boys continued to scoop out the leaves to wash and dry them until they were sure no other leaves were remaining in the bin. It certainly kept them busy for quite some time. Especially since some of the leaves can end up quite hidden!

Well, what do you think? Will you be giving this fall leaves sensory bin with soap foam a try?

25 Soap Foam Sensory Activities for Kids

Perhaps you have noticed that we have gone a little soap foam crazy lately. Pop! Squirt! Splash! is partly to blame and, well, my three year old loves the stuff. He just can't seem to get enough of it. Soap foam is great to play with as an alternative to using food items in sensory bins. It is also great because it cleans up so easily. After all, it is soap! Finally, soap foam is great because it is versatile. You can make as much or as little as you want. You can dye it, scent it, paint with it, turn it into dough, make it bubble and fizz, and so much more! Here's 25 awesome ways for kids to play and learn with soap foam!

Sensory Bins, Bottles, & Small Worlds with Soap Foam

Basic Soap Foam Recipe from Fun at Home With Kids

Minion Soap Foam (pictured)

Soapy Sea Foam from Twodaloo

Soap Foam Dough (pictured)

Rainbow Soap Foam from Fun at Home With Kids (pictured)

Alligator Bubbling Swamp Small World with Soap Foam

Soap Foam Sensory Bottle from Teaching Mama

Bathtime Inspired Light Table Play with Soap Foam

Glitter Soap Foam from My Nearest and Dearest (pictured)

Soap Foam Car Wash Bin from Kitchen Floor Crafts

Watermelon Soap Foam

Tie Dye Soap Foam

Ivory Soap Foam from Little Bins for Little Hands

Scented Soap Foam

Cinnamon Soap Foam 

Summer Scented Soap Foam

Jell-O Soap Foam from Fun-A-Day! (pictured)

Apple Scented Soap Foam from Learn Play Imagine (pictured)

Chocolate Soap Foam (pictured)

Calming Scented Soap Foam from Teaching Mama (pictured)

Arts, Crafts, & Learning Activities with Soap Foam

Soap Foam Printing from Fireflies & Mudpies (pictured)

Soap Foam Letter Painting (pictured)

Color Mixing with Soap Foam from Teaching Mama

Fine Motor Workout with Soap Foam from Sugar Aunts

Soap Foam Bath Paints

Soap Foam Sidewalk Paint from Teaching Mama (pictured)

Chocolate Soap Foam Sensory Play

This chocolate soap foam sensory play recipe makes a perfect base for a hot cocoa or hot chocolate sensory bin for kids. Plus, it smells amazing!

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One of our favorite activities from our book Pop! Squirt! Splash! is this chocolate scented soap foam recipe. My kids are completely obsessed with it!

So much so that every time they see the copy of our book, they flip to the page with chocolate soap foam and ask to make it.

Seriously, this chocolate sensory bin is as decadent and velvety as it looks and sounds. And the smell? It's incredible! It's almost good enough to eat...but don't, it's soap, after all.

Well, are you ready to dip your hands into this chocolate soap foam sensory play activity? Then let's get you ready to whip up a batch!

What You'll Need for this Hot Chocolate Sensory Bin

You bet this sensory bin smells amazing! It also comes together super quick. Here's what you'll need to recreate it yourself.

• Soap foam - Made from mixing liquid soap with a splash of water and whipped until bubbly and foaming. I actually used almond castile soap for ours so our soap foam actually ended up being chocolate and almond scented.

• Cocoa powder or hot chocolate mix (whatever you have on hand) - How much you'll need will depend on how much soap foam you want to make and how big your container is. I used a teaspoon of cocoa powder in a fairly large container.

To make the chocolate soap foam, simply combine liquid hand soap with a splash of water and a teaspoon of cocoa powder (or hot chocolate mix) and mix thoroughly using a hand mixer, electric mixer, or stand mixer. Whip until foamy and bubbly.

Alternatively, you can use a foaming hand soap dispenser and add the cocoa powder afterwards. My boys like this method because they like to pump the soap dispenser. However, this method usually takes a bit longer to fill your sensory bin container, especially if you are using a large container.

Once it's all whipped up and ready to go, it should look something like this. As you can tell, little hands were eager to dive right in!

Your Kids Will Love this Chocolate Soap Foam Sensory Play Activity!

We technically made chocolate almond soap foam thanks to the almond scented castile soap we used. And geez, did it ever smell divine! No wonder my kids keep requesting this activity afterwards. It's a sensory delight both for the tactile input and for the olfactory input.

Amazing scent aside, the feel of soap foam is so luxurious. It's honestly one of my favorite sensory bin fillers. You can't help but swish it around!

I mean just look at all those foamy bubbles, tempting you to dip your hands in...

My boys absolutely love covering their hands in soap foam. Seriously, the texture of soap foam is so soothing and satisfying. So you don't really need to add any scoops or spoons or anything to this bin. It's lovely to explore as is.

The boys loved to slowly scoop and juggle the foamy mixture between their hands...

...and let it drip back into the bin to start all over again. They would repeat this process over and over.

Messy Sensory Play Tips for this Chocolate Sensory Bin

While this hot cocoa inspired sensory bin can get a bit messy (especially as the kids cover their entire hands and arms with it), it cleans up really easy. After all, it's made mostly out of soap.

However, here are some useful tips to keep in mind when it comes to messy sensory play activities like this:

• Lay down a shower curtain underneath your sensory bin container to protect the floor and contain the mess. Simply toss the shower curtain in the washing machine after playtime.

• Keep a bucket of clean water and some towels handy to allow for quick and easy clean up.

While a bit messy, I do hope you'll give this chocolate soap foam sensory play activity a try. After all, it was a huge hit for my boys. 

By the way, this activity is one of many awesome hands-on activities for kids from the book Pop! Squirt! Splash! So definitely check it out if you want more hands-on sensory activity ideas for kids.

Minion Sensory Bin with Lemon Soap Foam

Looking for fun Minion activities for kids? Then try this Minion sensory bin with lemon soap foam!

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My youngest really likes all things Minions. He also really likes to play with soap foam. I mean I don't blame him for loving soap foam as it's ridiculously fun to play with!

So on a whim, I combined the two to make a simple Minion sensory bin with lemon scented soap foam.

The bin itself looks like one giant Minion. Plus, it smells SO good!

What You'll Need for this Minion Sensory Bin

To make the Minion soap foam sensory bin, I used:

• Soap foam - Made from mixing liquid soap with a splash of water and whipped until bubbly and foaming.

• Yellow liquid watercolor or food coloring - I prefer to use liquid watercolors because it's washable and doesn't stain.

• Lemon essential oil - A few drops is all you need.

• White craft foam - Cut it into two large circles. They'll be the minion's eyes.

• Permanent markers - To draw the minion's eyes on the craft foam.

To make the lemon soap foam, simply combine liquid hand soap (I use castile soap) with a splash of water and mix thoroughly using a hand mixer, electric mixer, or stand mixer. Whip until foamy and bubbly.

Then add a generous amount of yellow liquid watercolor and 4-5 drops of lemon essential oil. Then mix it up some more until it looks like a big bin of bright yellow bubbles.

Next, it's time to make the Minion's eyes. To do this, simply cut out two large circles of white craft foam. Then draw black pupils, as well as the black (or gray) rims of the goggles using permanent markers.

Then I added the eyes to the yellow soap foam to make the sensory bin look like one giant minion.

Minion Soap Foam Sensory Play in Action!

For some reason, three year old K's first instinct was to poke the Minion's eyeballs. And, naturally, he would time that instinct with the exact moment I snap a picture of the sensory bin...so here's how it looked before he really got playing with.

When the boys play with soap foam, I always set out a bucket of clean water and some towels alongside in case they want to rinse their hands off while playing. This is optional, but it's something my boys enjoy.

Instead of washing his hands, though, K washed the Minion's eyeballs many times in the bucket of water and then returned them to the lemony soap foam.

As a result, this play of washing the eyeballs meant that water was gradually being added to the soap foam mixture. So, as the boys continued to swirl the lemon soap foam around, the Minion slowly began to appear as if it were melting.

This minion sensory bin was certainly a lot of fun for both of my boys. It smelled delicious and the giant eyeballs were a big hit!

Watermelon Sensory Bin with Soap Foam

Looking for watermelon sensory play ideas? Well, you'll definitely want to try this watermelon sensory bin with scented soap foam.

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My kids love playing with soap foam lately, especially my three year old. And honestly, it's one of my favorite sensory bin fillers too. Not only is soap foam cool to play with, but it's easy to make, can be customized in a variety of ways, and is super easy to clean up. It is soap after all.

Since it's summer, I thought it would be fun to try making a watermelon sensory bin with pink soap foam and black seeds. Because nothing screams summer like fresh watermelon.

This sensory play activity turned out so pink and so messy, but it was oh so fun! The only thing missing was the watermelon rind, as my five year old pointed out by asking, "Where's the green part?!"

Watermelon Sensory Bin: What You'll Need

For this watermelon soap foam sensory activity, I used:

• Soap foam - Made by mixing liquid soap with a splash of water

• Liquid watercolors or food coloring - To make the soap foam nice and pink like a real watermelon

• Watermelon Jell-O powder (optional) - In case you want to boost the sensory play aspect with a watermelon scent

• Black glass stones, buttons, pom poms, or craft foam cut into small circles - These will be your watermelon seeds

If you've never made soap foam before, it's really easy. Simply combine some liquid soap with a splash of water and mix with a hand blender, electric mixer, or stand mixer until it's bubbly and foamy. Alternatively, you can just use a foaming hand soap dispenser to make soap foam. That's actually the method we use lately because it's a great way to work on fine motor skills with the kids! Simply pump, pump, pump the soap until you have enough to play with.

Now, if you'd like to make watermelon scented soap foam, then you could mix in some watermelon Jell-O powder. Not only will it make the soap foam smell delicious, it will also turn the soap foam pink. But this step is completely optional.

Either way you'll likely need to add some red liquid watercolors (or food coloring) to make the soap foam a nice bright pink color.

Then finally add the black "watermelon seeds" to the sensory bin.

Your Kids Will Love this Watermelon Soap Foam Sensory Bin Activity

This sensory bin was like playing inside one large seeded watermelon. It definitely looked and smelled like one too! I mean it doesn't get more summery than this right here.

The first thing my boys did was bury the watermelon seeds in the soap foam. They would poke the different seeds, pushing them down below the surface of the pink bubbles. Then they'd swirl the soap foam over top so that they were really buried.

Once the seeds were all good and buried underneath the soap foam, the boys would try to find them and pick them out, one by one. Kind of like a treasure hunt or scavenger hunt. I guess they figured this watermelon play idea needed a search and find component to it or something.

After they picked out all of the seeds, they counted them all up. It's like a sensory activity and a watermelon seed counting activity all in one. Sweet! Then my boys washed off all the seeds in a bucket of clean water.

This watermelon sensory bin with soap foam was tons of fun. It's also a perfect summer themed activity for kids! Definitely give it a try!

More Watermelon Theme Ideas You'll Love

Watermelon Slime Sensory Play Activity

Free Printable Watermelon Themed I Spy Game