Creating Indoor Snow

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In San Diego, we have a lack of snow.  When the weather is right, we only need to drive 30 minutes to reach snow, which is awesome....except I have a newborn.  As disappointing as missing a drive to the snow has been for the kids, we've managed to find other ways to enjoy "snow".  We have passes for Sea World so we went and played in the snow there (below):

Don't you love how they are in short sleeves? Love San Diego!

We also brought "snow" indoors through sensory play.  Recently, I was preparing for a clown job (yes, if you didn't know, I'm a professional clown) and found some Slush Powder in my magic stash.  Slush Powder is basically the stuff they put inside diapers to absorb liquid.  You can also purchase it as Insta-Snow If you've never tried it out I highly recommend it.  It's very simple to use.

Place a small amount of the powder in a large bowl or sensory tub/box.  A little goes a long ways!

 Add water.  I'm sure when you purchase your powder there are measurements on the packaging.  My powder is "magic" grade and was from a bag my dad bought years ago, so it's in a baggie with no instructions; I just added water until I was happy with the consistency   The nice thing is if you add too much, you sprinkle on a little more powder and you are ready to go.  Use cold water to enhance the experience.

As it gels up, you can stir it a bit to ensure equal distribution.

I gave the kids some Arctic/Antarctic animals, blue floral stones, and clear marbles to add to the exploration.  My son found some plastic trees to include in the experience.

It always warms my heart to see my kids playing together.  Both my 10 year old and my 5 year old enjoyed exploring the "snow".  Who says older kids don't like a good sensory experience?

Once his sister started her homework, my son had the snow all to him self.  He created a "snow monster" and of course...

  a great big snow ball!

When I taught preschool, I made a huge sensory tub full of this stuff.  What's nice is if you cover it, it will keep for quite a while.  I believe I had my tub for about 2 weeks.  I would add water to freshen it up but other then that, it didn't smell or get too dirty from dirty hands.  I think I filled the tub with about 1/4 cup or less of this fun stuff.  Although I added toys to the slush, most of the kids enjoyed squishing it through their hands and measuring it with cups.  Even though this is a product you have to purchase, I believe it's worth the cost, as you need so little of it to make a good amount of snow.

Have you tried powdered "snow" in your home or preschool?  What did your kids think of the experience?