Faux Snow!

While some may consider Benicia’s lack of snow a huge bonus, others might call it a deficit. Building snowmen, making snow angels, and sledding are out of the question for our little waterfront town. Although Benicia is missing the winter wonder of snowfall, we have the benefit of sunny but chilly January days and never needing to equip our cars with chains. If you’re wanting to incorporate a bit of snowy wonder into your never too unbearably cold Bay Area day with your children, this craft is for you! It only requires two on-hand ingredients and can be adapted for bigger or smaller kids (see notes). Keep in mind, this will likely get messy, so plan accordingly.

To make faux-snow, you’ll need:

A large mixing bowl
A mixing spoon
2 ½ cups of baking soda
½ cup hair conditioner, preferably as close to white as possible
Light blue and/or white glitter (optional)

Directions:

Pour the baking soda and conditioner in the mixing bowl.
Stir until well combined.
Add in glitter to your liking (optional).

Bonus tip: To make the faux snow more realistic, pop this mixture into the fridge for thirty minutes.

That’s it.

Notes:

For smaller children, faux snow is a great filler for sensory bins. To make a winter-themed sensory bin, dump the faux-snow mixture into a tray and include the following:
- For TK and kinder aged kids, this is a fabulous opportunity to practice letter discrimination, recognition, and sounds.

To pinch: gator grippers, tongs, or large plastic tweezers.
To scoop: cups, spoons, or small bowls.
To play: small winter inspired toys (penguins, polar bears, etc.).
To learn: board game letters.

For bigger kids, this faux snow can be molded into snowmen. After creating a snowman to their liking, your child can add buttons, beads, sticks, and so on to accessorize their mini snowman.