What to make snowdrifts for a photo shoot. Styrofoam snow

In recent years, snow does not always please us with its abundance and constancy in winter. Whether this is due to global warming or other causes of climate change, in any case, we always, especially during the winter holidays, so want to enjoy the view of this white fluffy miracle.

Artificial snow created right at your home can help with this desire. Although it is relevant even with snowdrifts outside the window - with its help, the atmosphere of celebration and magic will soar in the house if you decorate it with various crafts and a Christmas tree. In addition, such an activity with a child will be a fun alternative to other games.

How to make artificial snow at home?

Of course, you can buy ready-made artificial snow, but if this option seems inappropriate to you, you can always replace it with something. There are many options for how to make artificial snow. At the same time, it will be fluffy, soft, crispy like a real one. Plus, it's very flavorful. So not only children, but also adults will definitely like it.

The first artificial snow recipe

We will need:

• 2 boxes of cornmeal (starch);
• shaving cream;
• glitter (mica);
• mint extract.

This snow will turn out shiny, cold, fluffy and incredibly soft, like clouds. First, mix shaving cream and starch in a container. This process will take some time, but it will be incredibly fun. Your kids will love the feeling of "snow" on their hands while mixing.

At the end, add a few drops of mint extract to the mixture. In principle, this ingredient may not be added, it will simply add another entertaining element to the process of research and play, and the smell of snow will be just amazing. For beauty and shine, add a little mica or sparkles. From the resulting snow, you can sculpt snowballs, make any figures, for example, a funny snowman.

The second recipe for artificial snow at home

For this silky feel and look of snow, we need:

• a few bars of frozen soap;
• grater;
• sequins;
• peppermint extract.

First, the soap is sent to the freezer for the whole night. In the morning we first take out one piece and rub it on a grater, then the next one, and so on, until we rub all the prepared bars.

The result is a very fluffy snowball, in which, if desired, you can add mint extract and sparkles. Such snow is perfectly molded, so that you and your child can make any figure.

How to make artificial snow - the third recipe

For this option, you will need the following ingredients:

• a can of shaving foam;
• 1.5 packs of soda;
• sequins.

We squeeze the entire can of foam into the container, gradually pour in the soda and mix. The result is a mass very similar to real snow, from which it is pleasant to sculpt. For beauty, add sparkles. Feels like this snow is very soft, cool, smells of frost and freshness.

We have already done it by hand. But for the first time, it was intended to decorate our New Year's vase. The first experience ended rather comically, so this time I decided to go the other way. There are many different recipes for artificial snow on the Internet, but they would not suit us, since we needed not just artificial snow, but one that “melts”. Or rather, with which my child could conduct an experiment.

This lesson took place within the framework, where every day the child receives a letter from Santa Claus with various tasks and a small souvenir. We are 7 days away from Christmas!

Hello granddaughter, what did I eat with you! Thanks for respecting the old man.

And I have prepared a new task for you. Make me some snowmen. I know, I know, there is no snow in the Dominican Republic! But you and your mom can make artificial snow with your own hands. And don't worry if the snowmen melt, because miracles happen on New Year's Eve. The steam will carry them to me.

Did you like my gifts?

We prepare artificial snow with our own hands

We needed:

• Soda (454 gr packs were enough for 4.5 snowmen)
• Sequins (any small ones to give a festive look)
• Water (we used about 30 ml)

At home, you can make artificial snow according to various recipes. Since our snow was meant to be an experiment, we chose a recipe that was just right for it.

They poured soda into a bowl, touched it, decided that it felt like sand. Dry soda is definitely not like snow.

I poured silver sparkles into soda and it began to shimmer beautifully. The sparkles are small, so unfortunately they are almost invisible in the photo. Now it was necessary to turn the “sand” into “snow”. To do this, I literally began to add water a few drops.

As soon as the mass began to take shape, our artificial snow, which we made with our own hands, is ready.

For crafts made of artificial snow, we needed:

• Artificial snow (which we made with our own hands);
• Beads (we make eyes out of them, we had blue ones);
• Foil (or any other material that does not soak, for the nose);
• Confetti (small to give a festive look);
• Small disposable cups (it is important that the bottom is flat).

When the child played enough with artificial snow, we took small fifty milligram cups and began to decide what to make eyes and nose of snowmen from. Alexander suggested eyes made of beads, we only had blue ones, and a nose made of orange buttons.

But having put such a combination in a glass, the child himself saw that the resulting face looked more like a piglet. I've gone through all my materials to find one that won't get wet in the water. My gaze fell on candy wrappers, they are made of foil on one side painted in dark yellow.

I personally had the idea to cut out triangles and put them on the bottom of the glass. But my son said:

– Mom, I know how to make noses for snowmen easier and faster.

He took a candy wrapper, rolled it into a sausage with one end thinner than the other. I just had to cut off a piece of the desired length. I was very pleased with the ingenuity and initiative of my boy

As I already wrote, my calculation with the amount of soda turned out to be incorrect. To fill all the prepared cups, I would need about 3 packs of soda, 454 grams each. But in the middle of the process you will not run to the store. Therefore, we filled as much as was enough.

During filling, you need to try to keep the nose and eyes in place. Although Alexander is 2 months old for this period of 5 years, he would hardly have succeeded. So I took on this mission. But the child was not left idle. Putting a little artificial snow on the bottom of the cup, I tried to compact it as they usually do when building castles on the beach. Then the child sprinkled some small waterproof confetti. I added artificial snow again and again a pinch of confetti fell. The idea here is that when our craft melts, the mass will look beautiful on New Year's Eve

While playing with artificial snow and forming snowballs from it, Alexander said the following phrase:

“Just like real snow, but not cold.

What can be done to make it cold? I kept up the conversation.

- You can add ice to it.

“But then the ice will melt and our snow will turn into a puddle.”

“Then we can put it in the freezer!”

Great idea, I thought and asked the child to put our cups in the freezer, where they spent 6 hours.

Logically, I understood that the water added to the soda would freeze, and our snowmen would become denser. But only after we started the experiment, I fully understood what this freezing gave. Now I will tell about everything in order.

For the experiment we needed:

• Large plastic box (so that all ingredients remain inside, and not on a festive tablecloth);
• Glass bowl (where the experiment itself will take place);
• Magnifying glass (we have a children's one);
• Pipette (also from the children's set);
• Vinegar (we have 5%);
• Food coloring (for clarity of the process).

During classes in children's astronomy, we held, which my child really remembered. Then we simulated craters on the moon. Soda just hissed, its reaction to vinegar was interesting to Alexander, which is why after almost 2 years I decided to repeat the experiment.

So, after I took the snowmen out of the freezer, I just turned the cups over by lightly tapping on the bottom, and the craft easily popped out. The time that our artificial snow was in the freezer is arbitrary, I confess that I don’t know how he would have behaved if he had stayed there for the night, for example. But in any case, if the snowmen do not come out very well, you can put the cups in hot water for 20-30 seconds and then they will definitely jump out.

I put a drop of blue food coloring into the vinegar bottle. You can take any color, but I associate snow with blue. First, we examined through a magnifying glass our snowmen made of artificial snow made by ourselves.

Now we put everything in the hands of the child. Alexander himself conducted his own experiment: he collected vinegar in a pipette, slowly poured it onto a snowman. The child quickly realized that the slower he poured the vinegar, the longer it took to observe his reaction.

Then we watched together through a magnifying glass how our artificial snow seethed. For a preschooler, this is very interesting, my son's eyes just shone!

What we noticed together is that frozen artificial snow is not easy to melt. Even soaking the bottom with vinegar, look carefully at the photo below, the snowmen did not collapse. The child spent the experiment itself for about half an hour, which took 250 ml of vinegar. I did not expect this at all, thinking that a chain reaction would start and that one vial of vinegar would be enough for us. But it was not there!

In the end, all the snowmen went to the kingdom of Santa Claus, and we began to discuss our findings. My friend and reader of my blog Maria Eliseeva helped us to make them:

The reaction of soda and vinegar has the form of the following equation

NaHCO3 + CH3COOH → CH3COONa + CO2 + H2O

Soda and vinegar are a chemical reaction - as a result of the interaction, sodium salt, gas and water are obtained.

The child sorted out the slurry of sodium salt for a long time, just in case I touched it myself, I was convinced that there was no reaction to my hands. And this gruel is really pleasant to the touch, so a lot of tactile sensations are provided to children during the experiment. Then Alexander informed me that our artificial snow was no longer cold and asked me to add ice.

After that, a new wave of the game began, but it no longer belonged to the experiment. My boy collected "snow" into snowdrifts, and ice into icebergs. We added water to form an ocean and keep the child busy for a good 30 minutes.

This is where our experiment with artificial snow ended, my child was completely delighted. In addition to the development of fine motor skills, tactile sensations and just an interesting independent game, he discovered the characteristics of soda and drew conclusions. As you have seen, dear readers of my blog, artificial snow is quite easy to make with your own hands, maybe your imagination will tell you other artificial snow crafts. I will be very happy if you share your ideas with me.

To decorate a Christmas tree, window sills, candles and other details, you can use artificial snow, which is easy to make at home. In some cases, you can even make snowballs out of it. We have compiled for you the best collection of ways to prepare artificial paraphernalia. Let's consider all the options in more detail.

Candles and talc

For the production of dry snow, prepare glitter (preferably gold, silver, blue or mother-of-pearl). Also put a kitchen grater nearby, unscented baby talc (powder), a few white paraffin candles.

Place the candle in the refrigerator for half an hour or in the freezer for 10-15 minutes so that it freezes well. After the time has elapsed, grate it on a medium-sized section grater. To create a shimmering effect, add small sparkles to the shavings (color of your choice).

The resulting composition leaves no residue, does not dissolve in water and does not change shape upon contact with it. As a rule, artificial snow of this kind is used to decorate Christmas balls and Christmas trees, to paint windows and window sills.

Styrofoam

The easiest and most common way to make artificial snow at home. To do this, take out a piece of Styrofoam in an appliance or electronics box (they have less pellets). Put the layer on a flat surface, take a fork and begin to drive it intensively back and forth. As a result, the "seeds" will disappear, you need to collect them as you accumulate.

In most cases, foam-based artificial snow looks unnatural. It is used to decorate spruce branches, spruce / Christmas tree itself, window sills, painting balls and filling them, creating small hail and firecrackers.

Paper towels (toilet paper)

Take white paper towels or toilet paper and tear it into small pieces. Grind natural white soap into crumbs in a convenient way, place the composition on the bottom of a ceramic or glass container. Place pieces of paper/towels on top.

Put the bowl in the microwave for 30-45 seconds, keep an eye on the condition of the paper fibers. They should become more fluffy and raised. Soap, in turn, will acquire a softer and more pliable consistency.

After the expiration date, remove the composition, pour in a little filtered water and mix everything with a fork. Place in the refrigerator for 3 minutes, then rub again. It is from such snow that you can sculpt mini-snowmen, play snowballs, decorate any surface and objects.

Eggshell

Boil a few eggs with white (not red) shells. Clean them, remove the films. Place in a tight plastic bag, place on a hard surface and grind to a powder with a rolling pin. When the shell is ready, you can mix it with glitter, and then proceed to the decorations. Artificial snow is attached to spruce / Christmas tree branches with PVA glue, windows are decorated with it, creating various patterns. The composition is used for stuffing transparent Christmas balls.

Baby diapers

No matter how strange it may sound, but artificial snow can be made from disposable diapers or white diapers. The thing is that such attributes absorb moisture due to the sodium polyacrylate contained in the composition. In the swollen state, the preparation looks like real snow.

To properly perform the procedure, remove the cotton-like stuffing from the diapers / diapers. Break it into very small particles, then place in a deep bowl. Start slowly pouring in cold purified water and at the same time knead the resulting mixture with your hands. In the end, you will get a decoration that is difficult to distinguish from real snow. The attribute is used to create snowballs, snowmen, holiday decorations, suggesting the presence of peculiar snowdrifts.

Baking soda and shaving foam

Pour the soda into a small bottle so that it is convenient to mix it with other components. Squeeze a bottle of foam into a deep container and pour soda at the same time, then mix immediately. Act intermittently: poured, mixed, poured again. One bottle of foam accounts for one and a half packs of soda. When mixing comes to an end, send the composition to the refrigerator for 5 minutes. Then take it out and add glitter to decorate. A feature of this method is that the finished snow smells of frosty freshness, if you pick up foam with the appropriate aroma.

Foamed polyethylene

Very often, housewives use pimply polyethylene, which is used to wrap household appliances during transportation for better cargo safety. Take 1 sq. m. of material, twist it into a tight tube, then grate it with small divisions. Combine the resulting air mass with mother-of-pearl sequins, add 3-5 bags of potato starch and a little filtered water. Knead until the composition becomes homogeneous.

After that, dry it on a battery or in direct sunlight. Gut a little with a fork, then proceed to the decorations. The composition looks very beautiful and natural on fluffy artificial Christmas trees and natural spruce trees. To properly attach artificial snow, lubricate the area to be treated with PVA, and then sprinkle it with the composition.

Toothpaste

The method is more suitable for spraying on windows, mirrors, balls, a Christmas tree. As a rule, a stencil dipped in water is applied to the surface for better adhesion. After that, the voids are filled with snow patches. It is necessary to spray very carefully, because the drops scatter in different directions. Get the cheapest white toothpaste without colored granules. Squeeze half of the tube into the container, add a little filtered water to make the composition more liquid, creamy. Dip your toothbrush into it, point it at the object you want to process. Run your finger up the stubble and release to speckle the object.

Starch and soap

Grate a fine section of a bar of white soap, mix it with 3 sachets of potato or cornstarch. Boil 200-250 ml. water, pour boiling water into the composition, then beat the mixture with a whisk, forks or a mixer until a thick foam forms.

To make snowballs, take a Styrofoam ball, dip it in the mixture and dry it on a radiator. If you want to decorate windows or branches of a Christmas tree with the composition, just dip a toothbrush in the snow and cover the surface with wet movements. You can dry the mixture, and then knead it if you need snow in powder form.

Salt

Recently, New Year's wreaths decorated with artificial snow have become very popular. Also, many people do not put a spruce, but decorate the room with its separate branches. As a result, you get a kind of frost. To start the procedure, take an enamel pan, pour 5 liters of water into it and add 2 packs of table salt. Put the pan on the fire, stir and heat until the composition dissolves. When this happens, turn off the stove, put the branches in the container and wait 4-6 hours. During this time, the salt will be absorbed into the needles and form the original snow crust. At the end of the term, remove the branches and leave them to dry for half an hour.

Edible artificial snow

Experienced housewives pamper their children with artificial edible snow. They can decorate the festive table, in particular, New Year's, you just need to show imagination and perseverance. To add magic to baked goods, fruit salads or other desserts, it is enough to douse them with airy cream and sprinkle with powdered sugar. For second courses, boiled chicken protein, grated, is suitable.

It is easy to make artificial snow at home if you have various methods in service. Use plastic, styrofoam, eggshells, toothpaste, a mixture of shaving foam and baking soda, paraffin candles, and talcum powder. Treat the kids to edible magic with powdered sugar and cream.

When the New Year is just around the corner and the mood is already festive, we strive to decorate the whole apartment, any corner of it. However, you can’t put Christmas trees in all rooms, but you want to feel the holiday everywhere. In this case, bouquets made up of snow-covered branches perfectly help out. Of course, the snow and frost on them are not real, but it looks impressive. There are several ways to create such a bouquet. Having spent a little time and turning on your imagination, you will create a unique New Year's design for your apartment.

Hoarfrost from salt.

To create such a bouquet, any twigs are suitable. It can be branches of spruce or pine, twigs of willow, willow or any shrub. Hardwood branches can be taken fresh or dry. To prepare the solution, take 2 parts of salt and 1 part of water. The water must be hot, otherwise the salt will not dissolve. The collected branches should be lowered into the prepared solution for at least 24 hours. It is desirable that the branches in the solution do not touch. During the day, the salt crystallizes, and carefully removing the twigs, you will get wonderful snow compositions. Be sure to add a few simple branches (without salt) or dried physalis shoots with lanterns to such a bouquet. This focuses more on frost. In the same way, you can create frost on the cones.

Snow made of paper.

You can make a beautiful snow bouquet using cut paper. You will need white or pale blue paper (for example, paper napkins), thin foil (Christmas tree tinsel). All this paper "collection" needs to be crumbled into pieces of the chosen form. You can cut out circles using a hole punch, or make fine cuts, thin strips, or any arbitrary shape. Mix the paper in a dry and sufficiently voluminous container. Carefully dip the collected branches in glue (clerical or PVA) and sprinkle with prepared frost. Leave the frost to dry and your snow bouquet is ready!

Styrofoam snow.

Grate styrofoam on a coarse grater. It is advisable to work in a small room, because. Styrofoam tends to crumble everywhere and terribly clings (magnetizes) to hands and nearby things. Pour the grated balls into the box. Dip prepared beautiful branches in glue and immediately sprinkle with foam crumble. Such snow keeps on the branches very well.

Frost from powdered sugar.

Hoarfrost can be made not only on branches, but also on fruits. And why not a New Year's bouquet with a frosted apple or a tangerine in the snow? On well-washed and dried fruits, apply fresh egg white and, without wasting time, sprinkle the fruit with sugar or powdered sugar. Add a couple of sprigs of spruce, dry maple or holly leaves to the fruit and your bouquet is ready!

Snow from a can.

The simplest and least laborious is decorating with artificial frost or snow from a can. Matte, glossy, crumbly, large or smaller - you can choose what you like best. Just spray this miracle from a spray can onto the prepared bouquet, and it will sparkle, bringing that frosty mood into the house!

Artificial snow can help you have fun with your child, and also useful for a variety of crafts/handicrafts. How to make it so that it is quite budgetary and simple? We have collected 20 artificial snow recipes for you - try it and share your impressions. Not all of them will completely imitate snow - fluffy, soft, cold and smelling of freshness. There is also "snow" paint for drawing and "snow" slime, and "snow" plasticine, and other interesting substances. But all of them are directly related to the snow and will definitely appeal to children. And if you need "adult" options for use in needlework, then immediately go to the second part (point 9 and beyond)

For children, the most curious options are those proposed by Crystal Andrewood

How to make artificial snow at home

1. Shining snow

It turns out cold, fluffy and very soft.

Ingredients:

Two boxes of corn starch / corn flour

Shaving cream

Mint extract (optional)

2. Snow clay

Ingredients:

2 cups baking soda

1 cup cornstarch

1 and 1/2 cups cold water

A few drops of mint extract

3. Snow "lizun"

Ingredients:

2 cups of PVA glue

1.5 cups hot water

Optional: a few drops of mint extract to give the slime a frosty flavor

Mix in a small bowl

In a second bowl, mix

3/4 teaspoon borax

1.3 cups hot water
Combine the contents of both bowls and mix with your hands for several minutes until the mass begins to stretch.

4. Snow paint

Ingredients:

Shaving cream

PVA school glue

Peppermint extract

5. "Silk" snow

Ingredients:

Frozen white soap bars (any brand)

cheese grater

Peppermint extract

Method of preparation - send the soap overnight in the freezer. In the morning, you can take it out one by one (Crystal used 6 bars) and grate it. Fluffy snow will be obtained, in which sparkles and mint extract can be added. It is perfectly sculpted, and you can make a snowman or any other figurine.

6. Snow dough

Ingredients:

Corn starch (freeze overnight to keep snow dough cold)

Lotion (refrigerate overnight to keep the snow dough cold)

7. "Liquid" snow.

Ingredients:

Frozen cornstarch

Ice water

Peppermint extract

In the starch that you got from the freezer, you need to add ice water until the desired consistency is obtained. It is recommended to add little by little so that the "snow" does not turn out to be too liquid.

Also, if you've never made non-Newtonian fluids before, you might be in for a surprise. Because with active interaction, the mass becomes harder and more viscous, and spreads at rest.

8. Snow from shaving foam

Ingredients:

1 can of shaving foam

1.5 packs of soda

glitter (optional)

Squeeze the contents of the can of foam into the basin and gradually add soda. You will get a very pleasant mass of snow, from which you can sculpt figures.

Now let's move on to the adult part.

Artificial Snow Recipes

9. Polyethylene foam snow

Ingredients:
foamed polyethylene (used as packaging material for equipment, glass; shoe inserts) or foam;
small grater.
We work with gloves. We grind polyethylene or polystyrene on a grater and ... Voila! Fluffy flakes all over your house!!! If you add sparkles, then the snow will also sparkle. You can powder anything with this snow if you first lubricate the surface with liquid (diluted with water) PVA glue.

10. Polymer clay snow

Ingredients:
remnants of dried polymer clay (plastic).
Needlewomen often keep the remains of polymer clay, which is a pity to throw away. It is very convenient to grind it with your hands, and then with a coffee grinder. It turns out a light and multi-colored (when using colored clay) snowball, which can be used to decorate postcards and other hand-made products.

11. Snow from a baby diaper

Ingredients:
baby diaper.
To get snow, you need:
1. Cut open the diaper and remove the sodium polyacrylate from it, and then tear it into small pieces.
2. Put the resulting mass into a container and fill it with water. Pour in gradually, in small portions, until the pieces of polyacrylate begin to resemble snow. Just do not overdo it, otherwise it will turn out too wet;
3. To make the snow look more realistic, put the container in the refrigerator, but not in the freezer.

12. Frost from salt

Ingredients:
salt (preferably coarsely ground);
water.
We prepare a concentrated salt solution. To do this, fill the pan with a small amount of water and put on low heat. Add salt until it no longer dissolves. We dip the branches of spruce, pine or any other plant in a hot solution and leave for a while. The process of crystal formation goes much faster in warm water! We let the water drain and leave the plants to dry for 4-5 hours. Sparkling frost is guaranteed! If you add brilliant green, food coloring or ink to the salt solution, then the frost will turn out to be colored!

13. Artificial snow for the "snowball"

Ingredients:
Paraffin candle
It must be grated on a fine grater. Such "snow" is great for making toys "a la snowball" when glycerin and artificial snow flakes are added to the water. The container is hermetically sealed and when shaken, the snow falls smoothly to the bottom.

You can really go the simpler way - and add ordinary sparkles to such a ball. It will turn out no less effective.

14. PVA and flock snow

Flock is a very finely chopped pile. And if you are lucky enough to find a package of white flock on sale, rejoice. After all, now you will get "snow" for any craft in a matter of minutes. It is enough to generously grease the surface with glue and sprinkle flock on top (you can use a strainer).

15. Snow from PVA and starch

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons starch

2 tablespoons PVA

2 tablespoons silver paint

Thoroughly mix (grind) the ingredients.

Such snow is suitable when it is necessary to decorate the surface of the product with a bulky white mass.

16. Mass imitating snow

Ingredients:

fine quartz sand or semolina or foam chips

white acrylic

thick PVA

1. Pour a small amount of your chosen material into a bowl. Approximately 1 faceted glass.
2. In this bulk material, we begin to gradually add white acrylic paint. From experience, it is better to buy it in a hardware store for facade work. We add to such a state that our loose particles stick together, but do not float in the liquid.
3. Then add PVA, preferably thick. We also add quite a bit so that the mixture is elastic and viscous.
4. Well, some silver sequins. We mix everything and ... everything !!!

Recipes for edible "snow".

17. Sugar snow

Ingredients:
sugar.
Dip the rim of the glass (glass) in water or syrup, and then in sugar.

18. "Snow-covered" plants
Ingredients:
gum arabic;
egg white.
With the help of these components, plants can be candied (non-poisonous and non-bitter). Flowers of pear, apple, cherry, rose, violet, primrose, lemon, begonia, chrysanthemum, gladiolus, pansies have good taste. Candied leaves of mint, lemon balm, geranium are obtained beautiful and very fragrant. Dissolve 12 g of gum arabic with constant stirring in ¼ cup of hot water (in a water bath). Cool the solution. Prepare sugar syrup: 100 g of sugar in ¼ cup of water. Also cool. On plants, apply with a brush first a solution of gum arabic, and then sugar syrup. Sprinkle with fine granulated sugar (but not powdered). Dry on parchment paper or tracing paper. Such "snowy" beauty will not deteriorate for several months. These flowers can decorate a birthday cake or your favorite small sweet pastries.

19. "Snow-covered" plants - option 2

Ingredients:
egg white;
sugar.
Beat egg white and sugar until foamy. Apply with a brush to the petals of the plant and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Put the plants prepared in this way on parchment and put in the oven on a small fire. Two hours later you can admire the beauty!

20. salty "snow" for meat

Ingredients:
a pinch of salt;
egg white.
Beat the egg white and a pinch of salt in a steep foam with a mixer. Lay this impromptu snow on the meat and send it to the oven! Miracles: a chicken in a snowdrift!

I really hope that from these 20 artificial snow recipes you were able to choose the right one for yourself.