Alphabet Squish
This Alphabet Squish activity was actually a spin-off of our Puffy Planets. Little Brother was more fascinated with the puffiness than the actual planets. Much to his brother’s utter dismay, he squashed many planets to feel the unique texture of the dried glue and shaving cream mixture.
I thought I would put that fascination to good use with the help of some alphabet stickers to review the letters. It turned out to be a beloved activity…even though it only lasted a few minutes!
Here’s what you’ll need: shaving cream, liquid glue, alphabet stickers, craft sticks, and poster board.
I used the smaller stickers on the last page of the Melissa & Doug Alphabet Stickers.
1. Mix the shaving cream and glue together. I typically mix about 4 parts shaving cream to 1 part glue.
2. Use a craft stick to make small drops of the shaving cream mixture onto the poster board. I made 26 small drops.
3. Add an alphabet sticker to the top of each “cloud”.
4. Let dry. We let ours dry overnight.
5. Grab your eager beaver.
6. Call out letters and have him/her squish the correct one. Or you could let him/her call out the letter as he/she is squishing!
Big Brother wanted to try punching the letters…he’s such a boy! :)
After only a few minutes, this was all that remained. :)
Check out more fun alphabet activities or take a look at our Alphabet Pinterest board.
This is such a brilliant way to get some letter practice in for sensory-loving, active boys! My son would have so much fun smashing the letters. Pinning now!
YES! What a fun way for kinesthetic learners to practice letter recognition. I love it! Please consider sharing this at the After School Linky Party on my blog every Monday: deceptivelyeducational.blogspot.com. Thanks!!
Would this also work with paper letters vs. letter stickers? Looks like fun–definitely will try.
Yes, I believe it would still work. The shaving cream and glue mixture should hold it in place.
I love this! I will definitely be trying it with my students next year.
Did you remake the Puffly Planets?
I love your blog! Such amazing ideas! Question: at what age did you start trying to teach the alphabet to your sons?
This is so brilliant! I love it!
Can’t wait to try this!
This is such a great idea. I think my girls would have a blast. I can see having fun with all of them. The youngest could work on letter recognition while the others would have to give me words that start with the letters or something. Thanks for the fun idea.
I think this is a great idea. We can not use shaving cream but I thought about using baked cotton balls with letters written in marker. They could use a mallot and smash them. :)
We’ve done that too! Check it out here: https://www.icanteachmychild.com/2012/09/name-and-sight-word-smash/
I bet you could further this by having them punch down both the upper and lowercase letters together… like a seek and find to build that connection in a fun way! Awesome idea, I will also be pinning this!
What would happen if you added a bit of orange food coloring?
They could be alphabet “pumpkins” for Halloween!
That’s a great idea! :)
I wonder if it would be possible to use the mixture in letter shapes on the poster board to give each letter a 3D appearance? Maybe adding the food coloring to smaller batches so each letter could be in difference colors? Something to try at least.
I like this idea! I immediately thought about doing it with bubble wrap instead. I think all kids like that satisfying pop!
This is a fantastic idea! I think we will use it with sight words! Lots of fun!
any idea if the cotton is being punch, can it return to its original shape?
It gets pretty squished…but I haven’t tried getting it back to its original shape. :)
i was wondering if i made this on friday and it sat all weekend would it still be ok to use on monday?
Yes, I think it should still work just fine! :)
Love it! Would love to try it with bubble wrap!