An easy 2-ingredient Snow Dough recipe, cold as snow, soft, crumbly, but easy to press and gather into a snowball like real snow! Bring winter into your home with this easy sensory dough recipe safe for toddlers.
What is Snow Dough?
Snow dough is a winter-themed sensory dough for toddlers. It has the same properties as real snow. It is cold, soft, easy to press into a ball, and crumbles apart if pressure is too low, like real winter snow.
The great thing about the snow dough recipe is that you can play with it in a warm house. It doesn’t melt or make a mess!
How to make snow dough recipe?
To make homemade snow dough at home, you need only 2 ingredients that are safe for kids to play with:
- Cold water
- Baking soda
Simply mix the 2 ingredients together. The rule is roughly 1/2 cup baking soda for 3-4 tablespoons of cold water.
You can’t go wrong with this recipe. If it’s too wet and runny, add more baking soda. If it’s too dry, add more water until the dough is crumbly but easy to bring together.
How to play with snow dough?
The snow dough recipe is a fun sensory play activity because it’s cold, soft, crumbly, but still easy to shape like play-dough.
- Build – kids love to build things with snow dough like making a snow cone or snowballs.
- Hide – they also love to use this snow dough recipe to hide object, like plastic dinosaurs.
- Sensory bin filler – use it to make a winter sensory bin or in my dinosaur sensory bin and play the paleontologist.
Can I color the dough?
Yes, you can add a few drops of food coloring in the dough to make it colorful but watch out, these stains! The best addition is sparkles, white, blue, or any color to make your snow dough shine like if it were real water crystals.
Do I need cornstarch to make snow dough?
No, you don’t need cornstarch to make snow dough! While many recipes use cornstarch as a binder, I don’t recommend this option because:
- It’s messy and sticks everywhere.
- It doesn’t have a snow-like texture like baking soda. In fact, cornstarch makes snow dough creamy and gluey.
How to store snow dough?
The great thing about snow dough is that it stores for ages in an airtight container at room temperature. Plus, if it dries out, all you need is to add a splash of water to bring it back to its consistency.
How to adjust the dough?
Like any homemade playdough recipe, the texture can be too dry or too wet, depending on how precisely you measure the ingredients.
- If too dry – you are mixing water, add extra water 1 teaspoon at a time, squeeze the dough as you add the liquid until the texture is perfect.
- If too wet – add more baking soda, 1 teaspoon at a time.
Is it edible?
No, no, and no! Baking soda is a safe ingredient to use in baking in small amounts. However, baking soda is unsafe when eaten raw or in large amounts, so never let your toddler play with this recipe without supervision.
Also, note that this snow dough is safe to handle with little hands, but if you have cuts on your fingers or hands, it can sting a bit.
Other playdough recipes
Did you try this sensory activity with your kids? If they have fun playing with this, let me a comment below. I love to connect with you.
Have fun, Carine
Snow Dough Recipe
Materials
- ½ cup Baking Soda
- 3-4 tablespoons Cold water
- 1 teaspoon Sparkle – optiona
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, add baking soda, then pour 3 tablespoons of cold water and squeeze with your hands to bring the ingredients together. The dough must be cold, crumbly, soft but easy to bring together into a snowball. If too dry, add more water. If too wet, add more baking soda until it reachrd a snowlike texture.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 weeks or more!
Cleaning
- Simply clean with lukewarm water.
