Bubbles can be a lifesaver for toddlers. This Soap Foam Construction Play activity for toddlers is easy to set up and a hit even during witching hour!
Soap Foam Construction Play
Whether you are looking for a sensory play idea or just something to set up while you are preparing dinner, this Soap Foam will feed your child’s curiosity. Teamed up with some trucks and they will be rolling through the soapy bubbles with a brrrrrrroom!
If you like to add a book to your play then you can't go past 'Mighty Mighty Construction Site'. We love to read this and then pretend we are washing the trucks from the book. You can get the book HERE on Amazon.
What you need to make your Soap Foam Construction Play
- Large Bowl
- ½ cup of water
- 2 tablespoons Dishwashing Liquid
- Food Colouring (optional)
- Stick Mixer / Whisk / Electric Beaters
- ¼ Teaspoon Cream of Tartar (optional)
- Storage Tub or Play Tray - a tub like this with a lid is perfect
- Trucks and Construction Vehicles - you can get a great set HERE if you don't already have some.
Omitting the food colour will give your soap foam a lovely white colour. You could pretend the foam is snow! We chose green today, well… because Miss 2 asked for green. Why not get create and mix colours! Choose a couple of primary colours and your toddler could blend them with their trucks to create some new colours!
Cream of tartar is used as a stabiliser. If you add a little sprinkle, your bubbles will last a bit longer. Corn flour can also be used to keep the bubbles stable too! Simply add either of these in before mixing and your bubbles won’t pop as quickly.
How to set up your Soap Foam Construction Play activity
Creating your soap foam is so easy!
Simply add your water, dishwashing liquid and food colouring into your large bowl. If you are going to use the cream of tartar, you can add this now.
Using your stick mixer, blitz your mixture into a thick luscious wave of bubbles! It really doesn’t take long at all. Within a minute, your coloured soapy water will transform into your soap foam and be ready to play.
Pour your fresh soap foam into your play tub, add your trucks and your soap foam construction play is ready to begin!
If your toddler hasn’t played with soap foam before, prior to starting why not ask them some question about what they think the bubbles might feel like, smell like, or the sounds that they think the bubbles might make.
You could ask them what they think the bubbles will do when they have been pushed around by the trucks. These questions will help build their vocabulary and understanding of what they are doing. You will be scaffolding some new ideas, theories, creativity and pushing the boundaries of their play.
If you have used soap foam in your play before, why not ask them questions to encourage them to reminisce on their experience and compare these memories with their current situation.
You could ask them what they remember enjoying the most about the last time they played with the soap foam. How they remembered it feeling, smelling and how it reacted to the trucks. Ask them what they are expecting form the play this time round.
The first thing my girls did was touch the foam. Once they heard the word go, their hands got to work. They were sliding their fingers through the soapy foam, making patterns with the trucks before a little role play, digging about in the suds.
They moved the bubbles to one side of the tub and watch it slip back down again. They tried building foam castles and piling them bubbles onto the trucks to hide them. Miss 5 loved making tracks and then racing the bubbles to cover the tracks over before they filled in themselves.
If your toddler is a truck lover, this soap foam construction play is going to be a hit! This sensory play activity is inviting and engaging. If you have a spare twenty minutes to fill or need to get some vegetables chopped for dinner. This is an activity to count on!
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Some more fun ideas that your toddler might enjoy are:
Car & Truck Activities for Toddlers
If you enjoyed this activity why not PIN it to Pinterest
About the Author:
Dani is a busy stay at home Mum of 3 and early childhood teacher in training who is passionate about play based learning throughout early childhood. For educational play ideas that you can do at home and parenting tips visit Play Inspired Mum Check her out on Instagram andFacebook