Jell-O Soap Foam Sensory Play

What child doesn’t enjoy playing with bubbles? Take it to the next level by making bubbly, colorful, scented soap foam!

Dyan of And Next Comes L recently challenged me to come up with some fun kids’ activities using water, bubbles, and soap. I’ve done a lot with scented waters, but I wanted to make something more along the lines of scented bubbles. That’s how our Jell-O version of soap foam came to be. It’s a very engaging sensory activity for the kiddos!

how to make jell-o soap foam

Ingredients
Water
Clear, unscented dish soap
Flavored gelatin
Liquid watercolors (optional)

Directions
Engineer and I used our stand mixer to make this soap foam, but I’m sure a hand mixer would work well too. Using a whisk might be fun for kids who’d like that!

Put 1/4 cup of water, 3 tablespoons of your chosen Jell-O powder, and 4 tablespoons of dish soap into a bowl. The gelatin makes somewhat pastel-colored foam, so add liquid watercolors for a deeper color. Engineer wanted something brighter, so we added a bit to some of the batches.

Mix on the highest speed for a few minutes, until the foam “rises”. The consistency will appear thicker when it’s ready. Keep in mind that these measurements are what I used, but you might need to adjust them a little. The goal is to have a thick collection of foamy bubbles!

Make multiple batches for different colors and scents. Be sure to make them one right after the other, as the soap foam will eventually settle. Poor everything into a large bin, then let the children get into the bubbly goodness!

Engineer enjoyed taking his time with the soap foam – dipping his fingers in, make hand prints in the foam, and scooping it up with utensils. Of course, we ended up sinking our hands into the foam, mixing it up and just playing with it.

pop! squirt! splash! book

For even more hands-on activities using water, soap, and bubbles, be sure to check out a brand new book! It’s a collaborative book that I’m so happy to have been involved in! This Jell-O soap foam is just one of many activities the kids are sure to love. It’s available in a variety of formats: