The Uniqueness of Playfoam!

I must admit- I had always seen PlayFoam in the stores, and thought it would be a really great thing for my oldest son who has sensory issues, but I just have never got around to buying any. I’m not really sure why. It always looked intriguing. Probably a combination of a really tight budget (even though it’s not expensive!), and the fact that I already have Play-doh, clay, Moon Sand and Moon Dough! I mean, how many more things can you get? Right?……and in comes PlayFoam!

Educational Insights sent me this set of PlayFoam. I wasn’t expecting it and so when I opened the box I was really excited because it was one of those things we had always wanted to get but just never had. If you’ve never played with PlayFoam it is really intriguing. At first I was thinking “What in the world do we do with this stuff?”. But it didn’t take long for my husband and kids to get creative with it!

The container says that it’s no mess and it won’t stick in carpets, seats, etc. But when I pulled the PlayFoam out of the container it felt sticky- it was so weird. To me it reminded me of Rice Krispies, when you pull the foam apart you can actually see the adhesive like melted marshmellows! But the weird thing is, when I put the PlayFoam down my hands were not sticky at all! In fact, the table wasn’t sticky either! I can’t imagine how they’ve made the foam sticky but nothing else is sticky! It took me a while just to get over this discovery!

I sat there for a while saying “this stuff is so weird!” (in a cool way) while my husband and son began building snowmen, arches, and bizarre things to stick on their face! Hah- it was so much fun! We were laughing hysterically by the time we were done! The boys would press out shapes and mustaches and then put them on their face- no stickiness involved!

First it started with a simple circle that my husband decided to wear. Then came the mustaches……

My youngest son who is almost 2 years old was watching daddy & brother. He was leary of the foam and didn’t really seem to know what to do with it. When he was the boys putting foam on their faces he wanted to join in on the fun. SO we smashed a big chunk of foam and put it on his forehead! He was thrilled! I was just in tears laughing so hard- it was really a lot of family fun!

PlayFoam is another fun sensory experience for kids (and adults!). Other than the occasional foam ball getting stuck to my kids face when they were playing with it, it truly wasn’t a mess- and I was thankful for that! I clean up enough messes after my kids so I am always very thankful for play fun that does not require a lot of cleanup! There was no stickiness involved on my furniture. I didn’t even have to wipe my table clean!

My husband just combined all of the colors of foam in one big bag. Normally I would separate the colors out but since I haven’t been feeling well I didn’t really care! You will need separate bags/containers if you get a pack of Play Foam like I did. As with all kids toys I was interested to find out if it was non-toxic, non-allergenic, etc. Here’s what I found on their website:

Playfoam is:

NON-TOXIC