Every year I look forward to making pretend snow with my girls. It never gets old. Making snow at home is a great winter activity that brings loads of laughter and plenty of entertainment.
Plus creating pretend snow with your kids is a great sensory activity. Not only are they creating, exploring, and investigating the snow, they are also strengthening those hand and finger muscles, problem-solving, developing hand-eye coordination, cognitive skills and more. An activity packed with so many learning opportunities and enjoyment is definitely a win in my book.
I also love how simple this sensory activity is and you may already have the supplies at home.
Supplies Needed to Make Snow
- A Spoon
- A Bowl
- 1 Cup of Baking Soda
- 1 Cup of Shaving Cream
How to Make Pretend Snow
Mix one cup of baking soda with one cup of shaving cream. Mix together with a spoon until the mixture appears snow-like. You can be the judge of whether or not you need more baking soda or shaving cream. In my experience, I usually need more baking soda than shaving cream to get the desired texture.
I store the mixture in my fridge and it usually lasts about five days. Keep in mind I haven’t stored the snow when it was mixed with anything other than the ingredients mentioned above.
Activities with Your Pretend Snow
- Search and Find – Bury objects in the pretend snow and have your kids search for them. Pom poms or toys would be perfect to hide. This is an easy hide-and-seek game for the kids to enjoy.
- Scavenger Hunt – Type or write out shapes, numbers, or letters onto a piece of paper. Hide those objects under the snow and have your kids mark them off the list as they find them. I did this with our magnet letters and numbers. It was a hit!
- Snow Writing – Have your kids write their name, words, shapes, or numbers in the snow. This is a creative way to practice their writing skills and enjoy the snow. Introducing your child to creative ways to write instead of with the traditional pencil and paper is always a nice surprise.
- Sensory Play – Good ole sensory play always does the trick. Add in items like glitter, buttons, mini shovels (or spoons), craft sticks, pom poms, or mini cups for exploring the snow. This will encourage imaginative play and open your child’s mind to endless possibilities of creativity. They can build a snowman, igloo, or even snowflakes with those additional objects. You don’t need any of those extras, though; kids will enjoy the snow with or without the extras.
- Rainbow Snow – For this one, you’ll need to add small drops of food dye into the snow mixture and mix it all together until it’s well distributed. I would use separate bowls for each color that you choose. This is so easy and the dye dries quickly so you can dig in right away.
I hope one of these snow activities caught your attention. Hopefully, you and your family enjoy this winter activity as much as we do!
