Messy Play on a Light Box

It’s been a long while since we’ve played with our light box here.  J lost interest in it so I packed it away.  Last week, J found it hidden in or craft closet and immediately wanted to play with it.  I had to think on my toes and come up with something to do.

I rummaged around the closet and immediately found the shaving cream.  Ah Ha!  That would be perfect on a light box!

Let me tell you, it was a hit!

I started off by just spraying shaving cream in the box and provided red gems and washable paints that he could add to the play. 

With the red gems

He added in some green paint too.

This is a fantastic sensory play activity for kids.  J said he really liked this activity and has asked to play with it again.

Here’s some tips for this messy play

• I dressed J in clothes that I didn’t mind getting dirty.  Everything washed out beautifully, so it wasn’t really necessary.
• We did this in the bathroom so that we could make it dark and for super easy clean up.  I just tossed the box and J into the bathtub for a rinse afterwards.
• Shaving cream is a good cleaning agent, so I didn’t mind if he got it outside the box.  Plus, it is super easy to just wipe it off, no scrubbing needed.

Don’t have a light box?  No biggie!

I make my own using clear storage boxes, under the counter lights and a bit of tissue paper to diffuse the light.  Here’s how I usually do it.  This time I put the light on the floor and turned the box upside down on top of it.  I placed another box on top to help contain the mess.

How do you feel about messy play?  Love it or hate it?

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