shaving cream prints and shaving cream play

Forget the idea of marbling....the children in my class preferred to experiment with the paint and the shaving cream. It was available all day and a popular center, I think all of one print was actually made...two if you count the one I did.There were jars of liquid watercolor and eyedroppers scattered about. We talked about warm colors and cool colors and the children chose to have one tray of warm colors and one tray of cool colors. They were focused and intent on making sure their trays remained warm or cool. Fingers dipped into the shaving cream along with plastic spoons and measuring cups. At one point the paintbrushes came out and the children attempted to paint on top of the shaving cream. A glass of water was requested when they realized the cream would stick to their brush.  For making prints, the children dropped bits of color on top of the shaving cream then used the end of a paintbrush to swirl the colors a bit. Next a piece of paper was placed gently on top. Once the paper was removed the children noticed how completely covered with shaving cream it was. Small scraps of sturdy cardboard were used to scrape the shaving cream away revealing the marbled print underneath. It was a joyfully loud morning of investigation and experimentation.