The Friday before the winter break supplied us with a nice snowfall. The aftercare kids didn’t want to walk, they wanted to play in the snow. So I promised them we could play at Oak Learners and we were happy to discover the garden was full of untouched snow. We made quick work of turning every bit of pristine snow into chaos. So, I told the kids after the holidays if there was snow we could play in it again. But, when we returned from the holidays there was no snow.
Well, it was decided that we needed to make snow!!
However, I found 5 recipes and had no idea which one would be best. Time for trial and error: I opted to try a couple of them to compare. Armed with baking soda, corn flour, hair conditioner, and shaving cream, the aftercare kids and I set about to make the best snow we could!
Naturally, this made way for high levels of excitement, squeals of delight, and a lot of mess! It was arguably my favourite week in aftercare (so far) despite all the extra clean up required.
On the first day of recipe making, we mixed baking soda with shaving cream. Some of our Rangers (older kids) helped me out by leading the experiment with the different groups by adding more ingredients and helping to mix everything up.
The Aftercare Cleanup!!
Hands quickly became caked in the mixture and needed frequent washing.
When you bake with baking soda at home, I doubt you get it everywhere as you’re only using small amounts. But, well, we were pouring whole boxes into bowls and mixing it with our hands; so as you can imagine, it was everywhere!
We managed to pull together a decent packing-type of snow in our bowls and I popped it into the refrigerator to keep for the comparison stage.
I then proceeded to clean it all up off of the bathroom floor and myself. It was then that I realized I would wear the same pants every day so I didn’t get any more covered in powdery substances. I even had to tell medical professionals at my appointment that I work with kids so they didn’t just think I was a slob. Kids are a fantastic excuse for just about everything, so I’ve learned.
The next recipe is where we started to understand the ingredients better and make changes. We started with a mix of corn flour and hair conditioner and ended up with some pinky orange “snow” since that’s what we had to work with. But, we found that the hair conditioner didn’t add the nice level of fluff the shaving cream had. So we began adding some of the shaving cream. We ended up with more of a cloud dough.
The Cleaning Never Ends….
That night, I discovered that I had been touching everything with my powdery hands and had to go around the school cleaning up everything that I touched and then discovered that I had also been walking around with it on my face the whole time. No one bothered to tell me, but I work with kids so it’s ok.
Thursday was the day to pull them both out and compare and troubleshoot. That’s when the real experimentation began.
We discovered that the shaving cream added volume and lightness to the mixes but that the hair conditioner held the dry ingredients together better so the mixing began.
The baking soda/shaving cream mix had some conditioner added and we learned that the mixture stayed cold without the fridge. It also was the most like packing snow. But it was also the messiest and this was not okay with the principal. Oops!
Shaving cream was added to the corn flour/hair conditioner mix, but inevitably ended up remaining a cloud dough instead of a snow texture.
This was also when we made the biggest mess on the floors. Noted.
I don’t know how it got on carpets in rooms we weren’t in but, just like sparkles, things travel and you wonder if you can ever really get it all clean again. I again was happy to clean because that was the price of fun.
Mission: Snow Troubleshooting
We talked about different ways to fix mixes that are too dry or too wet and what methods were used. We learned that the heat and movement of our hands helps to mold snowballs and cloud dough together even when it seems like it won’t stick and that adding a little bit more of the wet ingredients or a little bit more of the dry ingredients can get you to your intended texture.
Friday was the day we could finally play with the fake “snows.” It was also the day I learned that my snow was being evicted for cleanliness reasons. That’s the day the parents began to wonder how sane I was when I sent home a ball of cloud dough with every kid I could. Sorry about the mess but you know, friends share.
I wasn’t ready to part with my powdery packing snow though so I found a container and it now resides in my fridge for the very day it may make a reappearance. Sorry Kelly…sort of….not really.
So, if you are missing snow and want to make some, I recommend a mixture of baking soda, shaving cream and a little bit of hair conditioner to bind it. Don’t forget to have your cleaning tools ready!
As for measurements, it was more like an exploration. I’d say follow your heart but that only works with garlic. In this case lots of baking soda, lots of shaving cream and a little bit of hair conditioner. If you’re brave you can also add sparkles…maybe have a hand vac close by for clean-up.
Best of luck on your snow making experimentation!
Resources: Elf on the Shelf: Making Snow
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Rowyn is passionate about Art and design. She has been working with Oak Learners since 2015, behind the scenes as a website designer, office administrator and IT Support. In 2022, Rowyn joined the BASE Camp team to share her love of Art and Nature with our students. In her spare time, Rowyn can be found walking by the lake, photographing nature and writing poetry.
