I am off to London at the end of the week to deliver From Mark Maker to Writer and looking forward to hopping on and off the train in the icy winds and snow!
As it looks like most of us are going to get the first snowfall or flurry of the year I want to share with you my best and easiest recipe for snow.
You can prepare this in advance, but I usually do it with the children or let them have a go on their own.
You only need 2 ingredients
- Bicarbonate of Soda (or Baking Powder)
Both bicarb and baking powder work well although the texture is slightly different – not that the children ever seem to notice!
- Shaving foam
How much of the ingredients you use really depends on how much snow you want. I tend to find a little goes a long way (both in terms of the ingredients and how far they will spread across your carpet, floor, toilets and outdoor area once the children get their hands on it)!
I have also added glitter in the past – just for a bit of extra sparkle.
There is no real science to making it other than I have found it works best if you start with the dry stuff first and then add the shaving foam. You can always add more shaving foam if you need to.
TIP : Use a fork (for small batches) or a whisk (for big batches) to stir with. That will help you to get a really good snow texture.
One of the most useful tools for jobs like this is a good old fashioned pastry blender. They make an interesting addition to your malleable materials area anyway so worth looking out for.
Keep stirring until you get the consistency of snow. That’s it!
It is great for moulding, squashing, squeezing, pattern making, mark making, Small World and general snowy fun!
You can make this and put it in the fridge so that is is cold when the children come to use it.
You can store your shaving foam in the fridge so it is chilly on their fingers when they make it.
It will keep for a good while in an airtight container.
If it starts to get ‘lumpy’ just give it a good stir with your fork and off you go again.
If you have used bicarbonate of soda and want to create some fizzy snowballs then add a spray bottle of vinegar into the play. Clear vinegar will keep your snow looking white. Brown vinegar makes it look like the snow you tell children not to eat! The more they squirt, the more they fizz (and the more you smell like a chip shop!).
Have fun
Alistair
7 Comments on “Simple Snow Recipe”
Fab! There’s lots of superhero play going on in our Nursery at the moment and I’m currently creating activities to fit with this. Making snow fits in perfectly with my superhero persona “Aunty Freeze”.
We are working on malleable materials at the moment so we will give this a try. It sounds great and you can store it for a while.
We have used this before children love watching the reactions. We have also used the cornflour and conditioner, this prompted further discussion on what a coconut was and provoked a new activity of exploring a coconut!
Yes.. We’ll be giving this a go that’s for sure!
Aww this sounds fun!
This is a fantastic recipe – we used ‘basic’ supermarket shaving foam – the smell was pretty full on but the children loved it!
I’ve used cornflour and hair conditioner (the white coconut economy stuff provides a break from the shaving foam smell) this recipe also makes brilliant ‘ice cream’ especially with a splash of food colouring for the perfect raspberry ripple!
You can’t beat a. It of value shaving foam smell and all!