Making Snowmen… Inside!

You know how we love a good messy sensory art project here at MPMK.
So far we’ve tackled Jell-O Play Dough, DIY body Paint, and even Dr. Seuss’ Oobleck. So what’s next? Why, indoor snowmen of course!
Kaley’s here today sharing with us…

I always think of sledding and building snowmen as the quintessential wintertime activities. Unfortunately, we don’t live anywhere near snow. I didn’t want to rob my little one of all that winter fun, so I had to get a little creative.

With a few boxes of cornstarch and some shaving cream, we made snowmen from the comfort (and warmth) of our living room. Now I just need to find a way to take her sledding in San Francisco.

To make indoor snowmen, you will need:

2 boxes of cornstarch
a can of foaming shaving cream
a box or plastic container
a sheet or tarp or even newspaper
any random materials you have around your house

Empty 2 boxes of cornstarch into a box, plastic container, tub, or any other container you have lying around. I used an old gift box with a lid. A lid comes in handy if you want to be able to keep your “snow” to use another day.

Add the shaving cream to your cornstarch. I used almost the whole can.

Gather together random odds and ends from around the house that can be used to play with the snow. I grabbed a few handfuls of objects from our Treasure Box.

Use your imagination here, you could use leaves, twigs and other objects from the yard, you could use beans, pasta, and other dried foods, or even candy. (As long as the kids don’t try to eat it!)

Let the little ones mix the cornstarch and shaving cream together until it forms a crumbly powder that sticks together if you form it into a ball. If it won’t stick together, just add a little more shaving cream.

They can use any of the objects you have rounded up to explore their “snow” and build whatever they can imagine.

When I mentioned to my daughter that we could make snowmen with our “snow”, she started making a flat snowman using the objects I had gathered for her.

After doing that for a while, she realized she could form the “snow” into balls for a 3-D snowman. That is when it really got fun.

During nap time, I may have hijacked her snow to make my own little snowman.

I kept choosing different outfits for him, it was so addictive.

When the kids (or you) are all done playing with the “snow”, most of the mess should be contained on the sheet. The clean up is super easy.

Simply put the building materials in with the snow, and put the lid on the box.

Shake the sheet off outside (or over the garbage can) and you are done.

The “snow” will keep indefinitely, and is great when the kids need something to do, or you need a little quiet time.

My daughter played with this for hours the first day, and has asked to play with it almost every day since we made it. Four weeks in and it is still just as good as the first day we made it.