Foam Shapes For Imagination & Creative Play

*This post contains affiliate links for convenience*

It is funny how before you have a child, you take for granted the little things like having a few moments of privacy while you are on the toilet. It is very rare for me to be able to use the bathroom in private, so it was no surprise to me when my daughter came barreling in on me today when I was on the toilet.

Mai: “Mama, mama!”

Me: “Yes Baby!”

Mai: “Come look, I made Mickey Mouse.”

Me: “Ummmm, Ok, give mommy a minute.”

I could sense my daughter’s excitement, so I got out to the living room as fast as I could to see what it was that she was so excited about.

“Look Mama!”, she said to me pointing at the coffee table & beaming with pride. There on the table were 3 golf balls arranged in such a way that it resembled the shape of Mickey Mouse.

I thought this was amazing. I loved that her young mind was able think & create in this manner. This is something that I want to cultivate in my child & watch as it grows. I wondered what other creations might be brewing in that little brain of hers. This gave mommy an idea for an activity that we could do together. Since it turned out to be a dark & rainy day & all of our outdoor activities were cancelled, it seemed like the perfect thing for a boring rainy day.

I grabbed some different colored foam sheets from our craft bin & cut several different shapes of varying sizes and colors. I cut out circles, triangles, ovals, diamonds, squares, rectangles & crescent shapes.

We laid them down on the floor. Immediately Mai jumped into them.

First she was just excited to share with me the shape names & the colors. I then grabbed 3 circles & copied her previous pattern with the circles & showed her that we could make Mickey Mouse with these shapes too. This intrigued her. She started grabbing at the shapes and laying down different patterns explaining to me her thought process as she went. “Look Mama, I make a club house.”

“You most certainly did. It is beautiful.”

I always like to play alongside her as well. As much as she likes to create, she like to learn new things just as much. She studies and absorbs everything & often is happy just to watch me as I do an activity. This is how she learned all her US states at only 2 years old. She simply would watch as I did a United States puzzle & named off each state as I placed them.

With my shapes I decided to start with a bus. The road that the bus is riding on was Mai’s idea.

Together we made pyramids, fish, a Christmas tree, a princess castle & decorated a birthday cake. It was wonderful to watch & listen to her as she used these shapes to create colorful & imaginative images. It was an easy & fun rainy day activity for us to share.

Related posts:

‘If You Give A Mouse A Cookie’ Counting Game 3-D Construction Paper Christmas Mouse Watercolor & Salt Rainy Day Painting 50+ New Year’s Ideas For The Kids Nature Resist Tie Dye Shirts Foam Shape Magnets For Imagination Play Felt Birthday Cake For Toddler Play Trim Santa’s Beard Cutting Activity