I just love Eric Carle. His books are perfect for toddlers and preschoolers…bright and colorful with simple story lines.
Little Cloud is a fun, simple, and utterly adorable book that we recently checked out from our local library. After reading this, we thought it would be fun to make our own clouds. We used the same method that we used to make our Puffy Snowflakes at Christmastime last year.
Here’s what you’ll need: shaving cream, glue, a bowl, a spoon, and blue construction paper.
We used shaving gel (because that’s what I had on hand), but regular shaving cream would probably work better.
1. Combine shaving cream and glue in a bowl. I don’t have an exact measurement, but I typically try to do a 1-1 ration of glue and shaving cream (though the picture doesn’t show it very well).
2. Mix together.
3. Let your little one start “painting” clouds. We tried using a paintbrush first, but quickly found that just globbing the shaving cream mixture on with a spoon worked a lot better.
If you have a slightly older child, encourage him/her to draw an animal or shape like those in the book prior to painting on the clouds.
The end result is a nice three-dimensional cloud!
What’s your favorite Eric Carle book???
I love all your wonderful ideas!!!! Thank you so much for all your time and suggestions! Keep up the great work!
God Bless!
Chrissy
Thank you, Chrissy! You are so sweet!
That’s a great idea. I love it!
My oldest has the Hungry Caterpillar memorized. I love all of Eric Carle books.
I just checked this book out at the library yesterday. Can’t wait to make some clouds with my preschooler! We’ve never done the shaving cream and glue before so thanks for posting the recipe! :)
It’s 105 here and this is probably the only cloud we will see this week. My son loves Eric Carle (he wrote his own version of Brown Bear Brown Bear) so this will be the perfect indoor activity for us!
Thankyou for this lovely idea, I’m looking forward to trying it out with my daughter and then with my preschoolers in a few weeks when we start back in September.
A fascinating alternative to cotton balls! We love that book, too.
How does it dry? Is it clean to touch after it dries on the paper? Or is still sticky?
It’s not sticky, but it’s fragile. It takes a while to dry (overnight) and even then, you can’t push down on it too hard or it will flatten. It will naturally flatten a little bit as it sits, but I think it looks like a whole different wispy cloud after this! :)
the one about the grouchy ladybug makes me snort with glee..it’s so cute.
A friend just told me about your site last week and I love it!!! Thanks for reminding me to stop and have fun with my Little Guy!!! We did the cloud activity with a friend today and the boys had a great time. Thanks again!
love u web site i am shareing it with others
love this ty so much ithink i could see lot things done with put some color in it and have other colors to work with . i be trying this i always looking for new things to do with cards i have 3 or 4 cards everyweek same ppl 2 ladys in nurseing home so if the cant do anything but look at card still take time to rember them in homes or nurseinghome u dont have be great card makeing just to send card to but if it put a smile on there face for only a few mins it worth takeing my time to make them . ty for great info i am passing it on .
I did this today with my 2 & 5-year-old. It was such a fun substance to play with. It reminds me of marshmallow fluff without the ridiculous stickiness! My 2-year-old actually enjoyed it the most and ended up finger painting with it! We had it everywhere, but all surfaces washed clean easily. The floor and art mats wiped up with simple water. I’ve seen this concoction used in piping bags to make it more writeable. I may try that soon with the 5-year-old. He seemed bored with just smearing it around to make a picture. Thanks so much for the idea to tie this in to the book. We love the story already, and this makes it even more memorable!
Oh, I love the idea of using it in piping bags! We might have to try that! Thanks!