Homemade “Magic” Snow Kids Craft Activity
Whether the weather is hot or cold outside, playing in the snow is always a good time. But if you can’t get the real thing or just don’t want to deal with the cold and wet, this simple two-ingredient “magic” snow is the perfect kids activity to keep children busy for an afternoon.
This craft originally appeared on this site back in 2014 as a fun afternoon experiment for my toddlers. We created this “magic” snow with just some baking soda and cheap coconut hair conditioner.
It was amazing how well it worked. The “snow” was just perfect. Crumbly, but easy to pack together, weirdly cold without being frozen, and obviously it resembled the real thing since it was pure white!
Since that fun day so long ago, we’ve made it again and again over the years, and we recently introduced our fourth and final son to the fun of “magic” snow. He enjoyed it just as much as his big brothers, and they all spent an entire afternoon crowded around the kitchen table making mini snowmen.
Over the years we have tried adding different ingredients to see if we could make it better, but really and truly, the very best thing is just baking soda and Suave coconut hair conditioner.
We did add a bit of sparkle this time, though, with some pale glitter we had in the craft cupboard, and it gave it a little extra fun the kids said they liked.
As with the original, we kept the mess contained by using a baking sheet, but I’ll warn you in advance that it will probably still get everywhere. Luckily it’s easy to vacuum.
Here’s the trick to making it – especially if you decide to make more than the original recipe –
Add more baking soda than you think. The concoction gets a bit wet at times, and you really want it to be more crumbly. So eyeball it until you think it’s right. If it gets too dried out, you can squirt a couple drops of conditioner in there.
Like I said before, it does stay really cool to the touch, which is kind of amazing. Not frost-bite cold, but just quite cold, which gives that realistic snow feeling.
It keeps really well in a Ziploc bag or an airtight container, and it doesn’t really go bad unless your kids start adding lots of stuff to it. Mine have grubby little peanut butter hands, so they have sometimes made it disgusting in record time.
BUT –
The good news is that this stuff genuinely takes only a couple of minutes to throw together, so it’s simple to make and very very cheap. You can run to the dollar store if you don’t have the ingredients on hand already.
Also, can we take a minute to remember back to six years ago and how cute my firstborn was the very first time we made this craft???
I mean, this was back before he could talk back to me or stomp off in a huff because I dared to ask him how his school day was. This was when he used to actually enjoy craft time and didn’t just want to go play on his computer!
Heart. Melted.
Ahem. Anyway, this craft is absolutely perfect for a small play date with three or four kids, and it’s a wonderful sensory play activity that is great for older babies and toddlers. As long as they are supervised so they don’t try and eat it (conditioner isn’t the tastiest), it’s a wonderful messy play activity.
If you want another great DIY that can use up the rest of your conditioner, try our Homemade Play Dough. It’s a little more intensive, but just as much fun!
Homemade "Magic" Snow Kids Craft Activity
Homemade "Magic" Snow is a fun and cheap craft you can make with kids. It's a wonderful preschool or toddler activity that will keep children amuse for hours. Just three ingredients from the dollar store, and you've got happy kids!
Materials
- 2.5 C Baking Soda
- 1 C Hair Conditioner
- 1 TBSP Glitter (optional)
Tools
- Medium Plastic Bowl
- Spoon
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
Instructions
- Measure your baking soda into your bowl.
- Add in your hair conditioner.
- Stir together until combined.
- Add in more baking soda if needed until mixture is crumbly but able to be packed together like real snow.
- Add glitter
- Stir again until glitter is dispersed
Notes
You can add different colors of glitter to add visual interest if desired. You could also add food coloring to color the "snow" if you wanted to change it up, but be sure to wear plastic gloves to protect your hands if you decide to do so.
Katie Reed is a passionate writer and mother of four vivacious boys from Salt Lake City, Utah. Drawing from her own journey through TTC, pregnancy, and the joys of raising children, she offers a wealth of insight into the world of motherhood. Beyond her heartfelt tales, Katie delights her readers with family-friendly recipes, engaging crafts, and a curated library of printables for both kids and adults. When she’s not penning her experiences, you’ll find her crafting memories with her husband and sons—Dexter, Daniel, Chester, and Wilder.
I’m doubling it, so I started with 5 cups soda and 2 cups conditioner. I’ve probably added at LEAST 5 more cups of soda but the mixture is still sticky and not really clumpy. Any ideas what to do?
This worked perfectly! Thank you. A little advice — do not add food Cole. My granddaughter and I made ours magenta. When we were done playing we had magenta fingers.
Oh no! We have definitely made that mistake in the past with other crafts. Food coloring definitely has a habit of staining fingers and other items. I’ve learned that if you do want to color things, use the smallest amount possible (1-2 drops), mix it with your liquid first (the hair conditioner in this case), and then mix everything with a spoon first before touching it with hands. A lot of times this will allow the color to disperse and lose its potency so that it won’t stain as badly or even at all. Another possibility is to use disposable gloves, but it’s not nearly as fun. I’m glad it worked for you, though!