Living in Spain we're not expecting to see real snow this winter. For that I'm grateful as I'm not really a big snow fan. The idea is great, the reality is cold. I'm more of a snow admirer. But I did feel the kids were missing out on snowman building and snow ball fights. So today we made play snow (the snow ball fights will have to wait for another time.)
It was really easy. Take a packet of corn flour. Divide into 2 bowels, one for each child. Then squirt in a generous glug of baby oil. (The recipe I followed said 500g corn flour to 250mls baby oil.) I wondered if you could use vegetable oil but decided to stick to the recipe. It also said to put glitter in but I forgot about that.
The result? Was fabulous. Really soft stuff that looked and felt just like newly fallen snow. The really lovely powdery stuff. (Except you didn't get blue extremities when you played with it.) You could mush it into balls (which you could have thrown if your mother had let you) and squish it about to make snow men. It was so soft and silky in your hands (although did leave them a little oily). It smelt lovely too (I used aloe vera baby oil that has been sitting in the cupboard for the last 5 years.) And it had that squeaky crunchy feel if you trod on it, just like real snow. Crunch, crunch, crunch, squelch, squelch, squelch. Until it dawned on me that I was busy spreading corn flour all over the place. Oh well, tomorrow night is cleaning night (hooray!)
The boys loved it and played with it for ages, dashing outside to look for sticks for arms. It wasn't exactly a tidy activity, but then not much is with a 3 year old and a 5 year old. There was corn flour all over the table, the floor and us.
After we'd finished, I went off to my catalan class looking pretty much like a snowman and smelling like a baby who'd just had a bath. Got home and finally managed to clear up all the mess. Just as the children came back from school again and ran to get out the snow again. Oh well, happy faces!
Feeding Toddlers.
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