Shaving Cream Fish Bowl

      I did this craft with my son after we saw an aquarium at the Dr.'s office. He was fascinated by the fish, the coral, the movement. A light bulb went off over my head. What a perfect opportunity to teach him about the ocean, and give him his own little piece of it! This is a simple project with just a few steps. It is not your run of the mill paint brush to paper craft, and sometimes a change is nice.
Materials:

• Shaving cream
• Fish stickers (or cut outs)
• Washasble liquid watercolors
• White cardstock
• Construction paper
• Spatula
• Cookie Sheet
• Scotch tape

   Start by getting out all of your supplies and setting up your 'assembly' line before you bring your kids over.  First cut out a fish bowl shape from a thicker type paper (do not use construction paper for the fish bowl!)...it doesn't have to be perfect, a circle with a small lip at the top is ideal.

   Let your child spray the shaving cream on to the cookie sheet.  Then, allow him to squeeze several dots of watercolors on top of the shaving cream. Push the fish bowl down about half way into the shaving cream/food coloring mixture.
   Remove the fish bowl from the shaving cream mixture and place it onto a few paper towels. Now scrape off the shaving cream using a spatula. Get as much of the shaving cream off as possible and allow the fish bowl to dry for about 20 minutes or until it is dry to the touch.
  Now you can decorate your fishbowl with your fish stickers! I found this was the best time to talk to Eli about different types of fish, where they live and what they eat, etc. (as well as remind him that the Dr. had an awesome tank that we got to see at every check-up!) He also enjoyed counting the total number of fish in his bowl and naming their colors.  I used some cute (free) printouts to teach him the actual fish parts and their actual names. My biggest pet peeve is when parents dumb things down for their toddlers...you'd be surprised at what they can learn if you just explain things to them!
    Lastly, glue your fish bowl to some blue construction paper (or any color for that matter) and enjoy your fish tank on the fridge for several days before it gets over run by new projects :) Happy crafting, everyone! 

If you haven't heard of liquid watercolors, check them out!