How to Make Aquafaba (A Taste-Safe Sensory Play Material for Kids)

Learn how to make aquafaba which is a fluffy, fun sensory play material for kids. This is a great taste safe option for babies and toddlers! This post is written by Rachel Withers (our Editorial Manager here at The Artful Parent) who she teaches art classes for kids in her home.

One of my favorite sensory materials to make for my kids is chickpea foam (also known as aquafaba). Have you heard of this stuff? I originally read about it over @cara_florance & we’ve been testing it ever since!

Aquafaba is a great egg substitute in baking so you may have seen this in vegan recipes before. Although I have yet to try it in baking, we do eat a lot of chickpeas around here.

It feels so satisfying to turn the liquid into an amazingly fluffy AND taste safe sensory material for babies on up! All you need is a can of chickpeas + cream of tartar and some food coloring (optional).

If you’d like to make separate colors to layer, I’d recommend the drained liquid from one can of chickpeas per color. For our Valentine’s Day foam I whipped up red foam & poured it into our IKEA flisat table bin and propped it up slightly to keep the foam from spreading out. Then I whipped the next can of liquid and colored it pink, poured it into the big bin and so on.

One thing to note, I find it’s best to whip this up right before you’d like to use it as the chickpea foam will slowly turn back into a liquid as time goes on.

How to Make Aquafaba (Chickpea Foam)

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Play Ideas with Aquafaba

And that’s it! This is such an easy sensory play material to whip up. I often add baking toys from our play kitchen like cupcake liners & a little whisk, along with sprinkles for a bakery setup. We’ve added dinosaurs to the mix with plastic Easter eggs. And seasonal setups are especially fun like Valentine’s Day or Christmas with sprinkles, coconut flakes, cranberries, etc!

Questions about how to make Aquafaba

We fielded some questions on our Instagram account a few months back that you also might be wondering:

• Do I need to use cream of tartar? I made it once without it, but cream of tartar is extremely helpful in stabilizing the foam and keeping it fluffy.
• Do the chickpeas need to be canned or can the liquid from cooked dried chickpeas too? I’ve only used the liquid from canned chickpeas, but I’ve read that it works with both.
• Can I make aquafaba with other beans? I have yet to try this but black beans and white beans are supposed to create a nice foam as well.
• Does it smell? There is a chickpea smell to the foam, but I’ve come to like it!

More Sensory Play Ideas for Kids

• 8 Engaging Sensory Activities for Kids
• 13 Fun Things to Do with Oobleck
• What to do with Water Beads (with Video!)

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