Engaging in the Valentine’s Day activities, the children presented their wish to do something more inclined towards art. Following with the interest, the children got together with the educators to spray some shaving foam in a tray and add Valentine colors like Pink, Purple, and Red. Using their in-hand manipulation and fine motor skills, they took turns in grabbing a butter knife and running it through the shaving foam, making patterns in the shaving cream. Next, the children got on to cutting hearts out of paper as they drew the shape first before grabbing scissors and cutting the shape out sharpening their hand-eye coordination. Once done with the shape cutting, the next step was to dip the heart into the shaving cream carefully pressing it in a way that the shaving cream doesn’t get on the other end, taking up children’s full concentration to do so. Once done, they lifted the paper carefully to find that it now has a beautiful pattern on it and if they wanted to, they could keep it that way or use another butter knife to scrape off the shaving cream or keep it on, choosing for themselves. The children were curious to play with the shaving cream and explore with their hands, a sensory experience that some like to engage in while some do not. The children who were interested started to explore as they scooped the shaving cream and felt the texture. Slowly they noticed how the shaving cream started to turn more into a liquid texture and not a foam anymore and concluded that it could be because of the paint mixed in and their hands being a little higher temperature. Children use creativity as they experiment with artistic elements and express their visual ideas or designs. Being introduced to new materials fuels their curiosity and encourages more participation. Using tools to draw and cut supports fine motor skill development and drawing shapes works on shape recognition and early learning of mathematics. Working with different types of textures such as shaving cream provides the chance to explore different senses, the whole experience all together encourages working in a team, sharing and most of all being aware of celebrating the events together as a diverse unit.
