This February, why not combine craft time with learning by creating a Shaving Cream Hearts Mobile? Black History Month is a time of reflection, celebration, and education, offering a wonderful opportunity to engage in activities that honor the rich history and contributions of African Americans.This craft is not only a fun way to spend an afternoon but also serves as a beautiful symbol of love and unity, reflecting the core values of Black History Month. As families and classrooms work together on this project, it’s the perfect chance to start conversations about influential Black figures, stories of resilience, and dreams of equality.
Activity Overview
- Age Suitability: This craft is good for toddlers aged children 2 years old and up with adult assistance.
- Mess Level: The mess level for this craft is medium.
- Difficulty to Create: Low.
Materials Needed
- Shaving cream
- Tray
- Brown food coloring
- Spoons (for smoothing the shaving cream and for spreading the food coloring)
- String or yarn
- Branch
- Stick (for hanging the mobile)
- Tape
- White card stock
- Scissors
- Scarp piece of cardboard
Step by Step Instructions
- Prepare Your Workspace: Cover your work area with newspapers or a plastic sheet to keep things tidy.
- Apply Shaving Cream: Spray a thick layer of shaving cream onto the tray. Use the back of a spoon to smooth it out into an even layer.
- Add Food Coloring: Drop brown food coloring onto the shaving cream. Use a spoon handle or paint brush to swirl the colors gently, creating a marbled effect.
- Press Card Stock: Press the white card stock gently into the shaving cream mixture. Let them sit for a minute to absorb the color.
- Create the Hearts: Lift the paper from the shaving cream and gently scrape off the excess cream with the edge of a piece of cardboard cut in the shape of rectangle, revealing the marbled pattern.
- Dry: Allow your hearts to dry completely. This may take a few hours. Meanwhile cut out four lengths of yarn. Once dry, trace hearts on the back and cut the white card stock into heart shapes in various sizes. Make as many or a few as you want to have on your mobile.
- Assemble the Mobile: Once the hearts are dry, tape the string or yarn to the back of each heart. Tape the hearts along each of the three yarn, spacing the hearts evenly on the yarn. Tie one end of the yarn to the stick.
- Hang Your Mobile: Tie an additional piece of string to each end of the stick for hanging. Your shaving cream hearts mobile is now ready to be displayed!
Tips for Success
- Encourage kids to make hearts of various sizes for a visually interesting mobile.
- Be gentle when swirling the food coloring to maintain the beautiful marbled effect.
Skills Learned
- Creativity: Mixing colors and creating patterns allow children to express their artistic side.
- Fine Motor Skills: Cutting out hearts and handling small materials help improve dexterity.
- Science Exploration: Observing how shaving cream reacts with food coloring introduces basic principles of color mixing and absorption.
- Cultural Awareness: This activity serves as a springboard for discussions about diversity, history, and the significance of Black History Month.
Crafting a Shaving Cream Hearts Mobile is a wonderful way to engage with Black History Month, offering a tactile and visual experience that ties back to the month’s themes of love, unity, and diversity. By creating something beautiful together, families and educators can foster a deeper understanding and appreciation for the contributions of African Americans to our shared history. Let’s get crafting and make this Black History Month one to remember!
Activity Overview
- Age Suitability: This craft is good for toddlers aged children 3 years old and up with adult assistance.
- Mess Level: The mess level for this craft is medium.
- Difficulty to Create: Low.
Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers
There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!
But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.
Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.
Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!
These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!
Click here for more information: Play2Learn
Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copy here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.
TV Show: Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.
Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
Shaving Cream Hearts Mobile
Materials
- Shaving cream
- Tray
- Brown food coloring
- Spoons (for smoothing the shaving cream and for spreading the food coloring)
- String or yarn
- Stick (for hanging the mobile)
- Tape
- White card stock
- Scissors
Instructions
- Prepare Your Workspace: Cover your work area with newspapers or a plastic sheet to keep things tidy.
- Apply Shaving Cream: Spray a thick layer of shaving cream onto the tray. Use the back of a spoon to smooth it out into an even layer.
- Add Food Coloring: Drop brown food coloring onto the shaving cream. Use a spoon handle to swirl the colors gently, creating a marbled effect.
- Press Card Stock: Cut the white card stock into heart shapes in various sizes. Make as many or a few as you want to have on your mobile. Press the hearts gently into the shaving cream mixture. Let them sit for a minute to absorb the color.
- Clean the Hearts: Lift the hearts from the shaving cream and gently scrape off the excess cream with the edde of a piece of cardboard cut in the shape of rectangle, revealing the marbled pattern.
- Dry: Allow your hearts to dry completely. This may take a few hours. Meanwhile cut out four lengths of yarn.
- Assemble the Mobile: Once the hearts are dry, tape the string or yarn to the back of each heart. Tape the hearts along each of the three yarn, spacing the hearts evenly on the yarn. Tie one end of the yarn to the stick.
- Hang Your Mobile: Tie an additional piece of string to each end of the stick for hanging. Your shaving cream hearts mobile is now ready to be displayed!
