Toddler Sensory Activity: Instant Snow!

My husband and I were up north for a weekend getaway in May and we always have to come back with something for the kids. This year, we really tried to get them we didn't have already or something just different and fun. I've seen Instant Snow on different websites like Discount School Supply and I've always thought it would be a fun sensory experience for the kids. We found a small tube of it in a toy store while we were up there and I thought it would be fun to try it. I ended up putting it away until the end of the summer when we were really looking for something new to do. I mixed the little beads with water and put it in the freezer for a bit, but we just couldn't wait to play with it. It wasn't as cold as it probably could have been, but they got the idea of it.

I added various size scoops and cups to play with the snow. I decided it would be best to start off with the big girls playing with it before I let my 2 year old experience it.

They thought it was pretty cool. Since we just bought a small tube, it only made about 6 cups. I think the girls would have loved for there to be more of it.

They were able to "pack" it. I think you could probably use a mold and make little "ice" blocks with it to build an igloo or other structure. The kids pretty much just played around with it, feeling it. Kellan thought it was pretty fun too!

It was pretty darn messy and sort of difficult to wipe up. It says on the label that you can dry it out and reuse it. But it stayed pretty wet for a day or so. I was worried it would get moldy. I had the not so bright idea to just set the bin outside in the summer heat thinking that would dry it out faster. It ended up MELTING and it was a sticky mess. I'm not sure what the heck that stuff is made out of but I didn't really like the residue that was left. The bin cleaned up just fine with some warm water and dish soap. 

I'm sort of ambivalent about Instant Snow. On the one hand, the kids really seemed to enjoy the experience of playing with it. But I don't like the clean up. And I'm not sure if you could really ever reuse it. Maybe the kind from Discount School Supply is a bit different. I think this is fun for a once a year sensory bin, but I'm not sure we'll be experiencing it more often than that.