# Shaving Cream Drip Art > Kids smear a thick coat of shaving cream on cardboard shapes and letters, then drip vibrant liquid watercolors onto it with pipettes. It's sensory play, fine motor practice and colorful process art in one. - URL: https://www.funlittles.com/art-projects-kids-shaving-cream-drip-art/ - Ages: 2–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: high - Time: prep 20 min, activity 20 min - Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class - Skills: fine-motor, sensory-exploration, colors, shapes, letters - Cautions: ingestion-risk ## Materials (one batch) - 3 piece Cardboard or thick paper (e.g. cereal boxes) cut into shapes and letters (household) - 1 piece Permanent marker (optional) (household) - Shaving cream (foam) - Liquid watercolors - 1 piece Pipettes / droppers - 1 piece Paper or plastic table cover (household) ## Substitutions - Instead of cardboard shapes: Any thick paper or uncut cardboard (The author says cutting shapes is optional.) ## Safety - Shaving cream is not taste-safe. Keep it away from mouths and eyes, and supervise toddlers closely. - Wash hands after play. Shaving cream can irritate sensitive skin. - An adult cuts the cardboard shapes and outlines them with permanent marker. - Liquid watercolors can stain hands, clothes and surfaces. Cover the table and dress for mess. ## Before you start - Cut a few geometric shapes, hearts and letters from cereal boxes and outline them with permanent marker (optional). ## Steps 1. Set out the shaving cream cans and the liquid watercolors with pipettes on a covered table. 2. Squirt shaving cream onto a cardboard shape. 3. Smear the shaving cream into a thick coat that covers the whole shape. 4. Don't worry if the cardboard buckles a little. That's normal. 5. Squeeze drops of liquid watercolor from the pipette onto the shaving cream. 6. Try one drop per color so you can fit in lots of colors. 7. Little ones can squirt the colors and smear them around. 8. Keep going with more shapes and letters, then set them aside to admire. ## Tips - You need a thick coat of shaving cream on the cardboard so the colors have enough thickness to seep in. - My older one let go of the water colors literally drop by drop: "I just do 1 drop for 1 color so I can do many colors and it will be super pretty." Works great for me! - Toddlers won't have much control with the pipette, but squirted colors still look absolutely brilliant. - Add some intentional learning: cut geometric shapes and letters for the kids to explore and color. - It doesn't truly dry. The colored shaving cream goes flat and bubbly after a couple of hours but stays pretty colorful, and you can keep the pieces outside for a few days. - Mix white glue into the shaving cream so it stays puffy and dries. (from readers) - If you're worried about not being able to keep the art, take a picture. (from readers) ## FAQ **How long does it take to dry?** It doesn't truly dry, since it's watercolor on shaving cream. After a couple of hours it goes flat but still looks colorful. **Does the shaving cream harden? Can I keep the artwork?** It hardens a little but mostly goes flat and bubbly. You can keep the pieces outside for a few days. Readers suggest mixing in white glue so it dries puffy, or taking a photo. ## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013) With young kids around most of the [**art activities**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/art-projects/) we share are very open ended process based art activities which are easy to put together. Often time the products of these process based art activities turn out to be so beautiful that you are happy that the product is just as great as the process. Today we are sharing a drip painting on shaving cream art activity. - Cut up shapes from cereal boxes - Shaving cream - Liquid water colors - Pipettes The only preparation you need for this art project is the cutting part. But that's optional. All you need is a thick paper or cardboard. I cut out a few shapes from cereal boxes and outlined them with permanent markers. I set out our shaving cream cans and our favorite liquid water colors with pipettes I had purchased online. Links at the end of the post. Off we went enjoying some sensory play while smearing shaving cream on cut up card board. You need to have a thick coat of shaving cream on the cardboard so that colors have enough thickness to seep in. This is definitely a [**fine motor activity**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/fine-motor-activities/). See! fine motor activity rolled into an art project! Of course my toddler was around trying to keep up with big sis. But this is how a 2.5 year old "gently applies shaving cream". This is the same toddler who learned very quickly from big sister and is demonstrating some serious [**fine motor skills.**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/fine-motor-activities/) She is prepping the canvas for some vibrant art activities. After shaving cream has been applied, there will be some buckling with the cardboard. Never mind that! Then the kids "painted" their shaving cream canvas with drops of super vibrant liquid water colors. Another opportunity to practice fine motor skills : While dropping the water color kids need to have good control over the amount of color dispensed from the pipette. My older was pretty good at it and let go of the water colors literally drop by drop. Her rationale : "I just do 1 drop for 1 color so I can do many colors and it will be super pretty" Works great for me! My toddler-- not so much with the control. But she was fantastic given her age..She did squirt out the colors on the shaving cream and they looked absolutely brilliant. I cut up a few letters for her to color, paint and smear. Some more drip drop art activity. Art activities are a great way to add some intentional learning component. I always try to add bits and pieces. For instance in this art activity I had initially intended for the kids to explore shapes and color them with the water colors. So I cut out a few geometric shapes along with a few letters. The hearts looked so adorable I just loved seeing all the beautiful results of our colorful shaving cream art activity. **** With younger kids you can do the same activity with a different focus. Check what Learn Play Imagine did in this fun **shaving cream** post.