Continuing with our winter/Christmas themed activities, today I set up some snow for Isabelle. It is actually pretty topical for us, as there has been snow on and off here all week (resulting in some very hairy drives to work as I drive back roads over a mountain!) and I have really enjoyed showing Isabelle the snow outside in the mornings - but unfortunately it is always melted by the time we get home.So today, she had snow that would never melt - hers to play with for as long as she liked. I made the snow using 2 ingredients:
- baking powder
- shaving foam
I tipped 3 cups of baking powder into a tray, and slowly added shaving foam until I got the consistency I wanted. You have to add a lot more shaving foam than you would expect - I used around 3/4 of a can. Once made, the snow resembles a stickier version of moon sand. It is crumbly, but moulds together well.
Considering that a few months ago she was terrified of shaving foam, it was great to see that Isabelle was excited about helping me spray the foam out of the can and mix it in with the baking powder. Previously, I would
have made the snow when she wasn't around, but as she is becoming more comfortable with different textures I find we are able to make more of the materials together - which is another invaluable activity and experience for her.
Once made, I tipped the snow out onto the tuff spot for Isabelle to explore. I let her have some time with just the snow to begin. She loved it straight away, plunging her hands in and picking it up - squashing, crumbling, patting, throwing. I had been singing "Do you want to build a snowman" as we set the snow up, and Isabelle started shouting"Snowman! Build a snowman!", so we did! A very small snowman, granted, but we built him up and smashed him down a few times.
She played for about 15 minutes with just the snow before I got out some of our scoops, rakes and a bucket for her. I showed her how to shovel the snow 'from the driveway', and we spent some time doing that, before she played on her own scooping the snow into the bucket.
To add a little sparkle, I threw in some fake snow from Home Bargains, which gave a nice shimmer - however adding glitter would do the same. Once I had added that, the snow lost much of it's mouldability and became much finer and more powdery. That didn't deter Isabelle, however, who continued to play for another 40 minutes. I showed her how to 'make it snow', and she did that, before returning to scooping into her bucket. She also spent a few minutes covering herself in snow - piling it onto her feet and then shaking it off before starting again.
We were pretty laid back with this activity, but I have kept the snow in a ziplock bag to use again, when I hope to use it for a small world play scene - probably some time in the new year.
