Last year we decorated easter eggs with shaving cream and food coloring. I know my son has used shaving cream in the classroom, it makes for good sensory play. So I figured he would enjoy coloring easter eggs with it. He enjoyed himself, and we loved the results! The eggs were vibrant and pretty.

My only concern was that the shaving cream may get inside the egg, making it inedible. So a friend recommended using cool whip instead. And that’s what we did for this year. My kiddo has a lactose intolerance, so I found this plant-based whipped topping.

I know it sounds weird. “Plant-based” has become this marketing buzzword. But once I tried it, I became a fan. It actually tastes really good. If you don’t believe me, read the reviews. I had no idea this stuff existed. It’s one of Whole Foods best-kept secrets. I can’t wait to get another container and make an Easter dessert with it.

Just FYI if you plan to use this topping, it needs to be kept frozen. Then when you’re ready to use it, put in the fridge for four hours. While I waited for the topping to defrost, I soaked the eggs in vinegar. I had read somewhere that vinegar helps the eggs absorb the color.

After a couple hours I noticed the eggs where starting to foam in the vinegar bath. So I pulled them out to rinse and dry.

Once the whipped topping had defrosted, I scooped it into a pan. Then I added gel food coloring. Kiddo’s favorite color is blue so I added a couple shades of that. Then green, yellow and purple. I took a toothpick and swirled the colors around in the whipped topping.

I then sat my son down, gave him the boiled eggs and he knew what to do. He started rolling them in the whipped topping. We quickly discovered that he didn’t like touching it. I’m not sure why, it’s soft like the shaving cream. He would quickly roll an egg around. Then wipe his hands. Then roll another egg around. Wipe hands. Repeat until all the eggs had been rolled in the pan.

We then let the eggs sit in the whipped topping. The intensity of color depends on how long you let it sit. So if you want pastel colors, you’d take it out after a few minutes. We let ours sit for thirty minutes.

After I felt it was long enough, I took them out to wipe off the topping. Then I set them out to dry. They were almost flourescent! I suspect it was partly due to soaking the eggs in vinegar for a couple hours.

If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t have soaked the eggs in vinegar for that long. I think it just needs a few minutes. Then I would have created two pans of color. There’s plenty of whipped topping to do this. Use half the topping to make blue and green. Then the other half to make pink, purple and yellow.

Going forward, we’ll also use nitrile gloves or spoons so my son doesn’t have to touch the topping. It’s fascinating that he can tolerate shaving cream, but not a whipped topping.

What do you think, any suggestions on making this activity more sensory friendly? I’d love to hear your suggestions, comment below.