Snow Day!

The calendar may say it's winter, but here in sunny California, Mother Nature begs to differ. We've barely had a chance to break out our new rain boots and there certainly isn't any snow in these parts. (Not that there ever is).

Well, if the weather won't give us winter fun - we'll just have to make our own! The internet is bursting with "faux snow" recipes for kids, so we decided to test one out. I used the Erupting Snow recipe from Growing a Jeweled Rose and it couldn't be simpler. Just baking soda and shaving cream. 

The best part? It's actually cold like snow!!!

Here we are mixing up our snow...

Adding in the shaving cream. Mixing it was a fun experience in and of itself....

It only takes a few minutes to get this. Cold, powdery, moldable, realistic "snow".

And then the fun really begins!!!!!

Pack it into snow balls...

Create an avalanche....

Pretend you're in a snow storm...

Smash it...

Squeeze it...

Drive a snow plow in it...

And fight play with your brother with it....

Just when it gets boring, there's still a science lesson waiting. Because this snow is made with baking soda, it will react to vinegar and release carbon dioxide gas. That's a little much for a three year old to grasp, and I'm not sure I remember my college chemistry well enough to explain it - so we just settled on calling it fizzy snow.

Here we go!

 Yay! So cool!!!

Concentrating on snow....

Somebody had fun!

I cannot stand the cuteness!!! (Yes, those are on backward.....)

One hour and countless giggles later, we'd used up all of our snow.

A quick rinse of the bins and wash of the towels we used as drop cloths was all the clean-up this project needed. You can't beat that!

Both the boys (and Mommy) enjoyed this adorable activity. There are lots of variations on the web for basic faux snow and we can't wait to test out some more!