We sure do love us some sand activities here at Paging Fun Mums! We’ve done Magic Aqua Sand, DIY Coloured Sand , DIY Sand Imprints & plenty more!
This Sand Foam has such a smooth, slimy, grainy texture that makes for a great sensory activity that my kids love! We live by the beach and they still want me to get this recipe out again and again! The best part is, it’s very inexpensive AND easy to make! Yayness (yup, still a word!).
To make your own you will need:
Sand – approximately 3 cups
Shaving Foam – x 1 can 250g (approximately)
To make your lovely Sand Foam, simply pour your sand into a tub (we use the clear storage boxes for Sensory Play)
Then pour in your shaving foam – mixing as you go – the kids LOVE this part!
Keep mixing and adding the shaving foam until you are happy with the texture.
There are so many ways to play with it:
1. Dinosaur Play – add in some plastic dinosaurs for imaginary play
2. Beach re-creation using shells and building little castles
3. 4WD track…drive cars through the sand, it makes cool tracks (and the kids make cool noises)
4. Just get your hands in and slop it all about!
Can you think of any other ways to play with Sand Foam? We’d love to hear your thoughts below!
If you liked this post, you may also like our:
You could do rainbow sand foam using the coloured sand you can buy at Bunnings! That would be mad! 🙂
I’m going to try this xx
How long is this good for and how do you store it?
Hi Amy, you can store it in an air tight container and it will be good for a good week or so! Jenni x
Thank you
I was wondering the same thing… thanks for asking!
How long can you keep the sand foam and how do you store it?
Hi Sherri, you can store it in an airtight container and you will get at least a few days out of it 🙂 Jenni x
How long does sand foam last? I teach Kindergarten, so wondering if you cover it, will it Kat a few days or longer?
Yes it definitely lasts a few days if covered! I’m sure it will be a perfect kindy activity! Jenni x
I was glad Amy asked that question, I was wondering too!
Thanks for the reply!!
Can you wash the sand and reuse it or do you have to throw it away?
I think it would be tricky to wash all the foam away…but you could add water for a different play material and test it out :). Louise x
Is this a sticky sand foam? Or more like kinetic sand?
It’s not the same as Kinetic Sand – it’s more of a wet foam. So much FUN to play with! Louise x
Hi. It depends on the amount of shaving cream you use.
can u add rice or pasta to this or coloured dye???
Sure, they all sound like great ideas! We haven’t tested them but can’t see why it wouldn’t work :). Have FUN! Louise x
I’ve put pasta and rice in similar soapy sand. But only when I’m just about to throw it out ( or recycle it in the outdoor sandpit), because the extra dampness of the sand can make the added extras igo a bit bit soft and squidgy! Colouring it is a bit harder as you need a lots of food colour but maybe dry powder paint would work? Not too sure about the colour of the children’s hand tho’.
LOVE THIS!!! My class will really venture in!!!!
Is it smelly? We tried doing shaving cream painting once with just a bit of shaving cream in ice cube trays and the scent of even that nearly drove us out of the house!!! (wasn’t heavily scented to begin with, just hubby’s regular brand).
Haha, I guess it depends if you like the smell of shaving foam or not…the one that we used (which was a no name brand) wasn’t very pungent…but I quite like the smell anyway. Maybe try a different foam that you like the smell of? Let us know how you get on Heather! Jenni x
will do! maybe I’ll start with a SMALL amount 🙂 I love the smell of his shaving cream but it was overwhelming with the painting!!
Buy women’s shaving cream at the dollar store. I do for all our shaving cream fun, it smells like peaches in my kitchen right now. 😉
Great tip! 🙂
Done this with my pre kindy kids, and they loved it. Was great fun and the smell was great 🙂
What a great idea..we had bought the kinetic sand but it was expensive
I am a Family Day Care Educator, I am always looking for new craft and sensory tub ideas. I would love to become a fellow fun mum member, and receive some of your fantastic ideas and creations. Thank you for your offer. Cheers Leeanne
where can I get the sand for this activity?
Hi Ashlie, I am very lucky that I live close to the beach, so I use a bit from there. You can also buy sand at craft stores 🙂 Jen x
Here in Colorado you can buy big bags of clean play sand at Lowes & Home Depot and other garden centers. Usually around $5.00 or less for around a 5 gallon container full. You also could check at a landscape company.
hey would love to do this but. Do they have sand in stores here in Idaho?
You can buy sand at any builders supply store (Home Depot, Menards, Lowes). I have also bought it at Kmart.
This will definitely be a fun projects with the kids! 🙂
How long would this keep?
How long would this keep
Hi there,
I want to make this with my kids but am concerned about my 1.5yr old ingesting it (for some reason, he LOVES eating sand at the beach-by the handful)
Is there something else we can use to replace the shaving foam that won’t require a trip to the ER? haha
Mishelle.
Hi Mishelle,
You could make it using whipped cream. It obviously wouldn’t last long though. Good luck! Louise x
What a great tip! I’ll be sharing this for SURE! 😀 Thank you!
I think this would be excellent for rehabilitating stroke victims (like me) who have lost feeling and dexterity in upper body, much more interesting than just plain play doh.
Sand used to make concrete in the building supplies section of Lowes is very clean and only around $5 for large bag.
i make whipped sand using washing up liquid and sand with a little touch of water. Really easy to clean up and smells lovely
Maybe you needed more sand (or less shaving cream).
Oops–I posted that in the wrong place!
I made this today for a messy play with two 2 year olds and they LOVED it! esp the mixing part. Thanks for the idea 🙂
I tried making this and it didn’t work, what did I do wrong. 🙁 It came out just like wet sand. The grandkids still enjoyed playing with it, but I was hoping to make it right, and I tried twice. LOL Thank you for any suggestions.
I’m not sure why it’s not working…I wonder if it was the brand of shaving cream used?
I’ll try another brand, thank you
Maybe you needed more sand (or less shaving cream).
I’m going to take a large bowl and shaving cream next time I take my nannykids to the local manmade beach! Fun and no worry of mess or smell!
Where did you buy the sand?
I went to the beach to collect mine but you can get it at the craft store Salma. Jen x
OMG, my little baby absolutely loved it. So did my twelve year olds, Freya and Caitlyn! Also my SIXTEEN year old told me, “Mom, I love this stuff!” So sweet! I love this site!!!!!!!
What a super idea! Thanks for sharing, and some good info and tips in the comments.
Cant wait to try this with my PreK kids!!! Just a quick question…… how do you dispose of it?
That’s great Kat! It’s super fun! To dispose of it, I placed it in a bag and into the bin 🙂
When washing it off of your hands is it easy to clean off or will it clog the sink? I would love to use it in my classroom but do not want to clog the sink.
Could you use decorative sand?
Sure! 🙂
I noticed that you used foam shaving cream. Have you ever used the gel kind? If so, how did it work in comparison to the foam?