Make Your Own Snow

Whenever it snows, I bring some inside for Aiden to use in play. What do you do when you want to play with snow but there is not any around? You make your own snow! Amazon affiliate links are used in this post.

Make Your Own Snow

(This post was originally published in December 2014. Lily was 8 months old; Aiden was 5.)

I had been looking for a new blender for a while. {My old blender is 14 years old and was never a very good blender to begin with.} Some of our Facebook followers suggested a Ninja blender. After looking into the reviews, I finally decided to get the Ninja Master Prep. I think it’s the least expensive of the Ninja blenders at $35 and had great reviews. The blender motor actually sits on top of the blender container, so it’s a bit unique. So far I am very pleased with it. I’ve made smoothies, milk shakes, baby food {lots of baby food}, soup, and snow.

Making snow in a blender is quite easy. {Before starting, you should double check that your blender is capable of crushing ice. Some blenders may not have this ability.} Add a handful or two of ice to the blender. Pulse until the ice turns into fine snow. The key is to pulse – just turn the blender on in short bursts. Soon you’ll have soft snow.

We also have a snow cone machine {one of the cheap ones}. It doesn’t crush ice as nicely as my blender. Here’s an example of the snow created by the snow cone machine. You can see the ice is chunky rather than snow like.

Snow Play Ideas

Once you’ve made your snow, try one of these ideas for play. Encourage your child to wear gloves to play in the cold snow.

Make a snow sensory bin. Add age-appropriate treasures for your child to dig up. For Aiden {age 5}, I buried plastic glow-in-the-dark stars and glass gems {by his request}. He used tongs to dig them out. This is great fine motor practice.

Add cars to your snow sensory bin. Build a ramp and crash cars into the snow.

Try a simple snow science experiment. How long will it take the snow to melt?

What happens when you add water to snow? Find out in this snow and water science experiment.

Make a fizzy melting snowman. You can add baking soda to the snow or you can crush some baking soda ice. Which way works better? We’re going to have to test this. Let us know if you beat us to it!

Do you bring snow inside for your kids? Do you make your own snow? How do you like to play with the snow?