2 Ingredient Fake Snow Recipe – that feels cold!

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Enjoy this 2 ingredient fake snow recipe using baking soda and shaving cream! And yes, it actually feels cold! When you’re done, give this felt snowman ornament pattern a try too! This post contains affiliate links.

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I was looking for a really cool winter activity to do with a group of four year olds, and decided that play snow is the way to go! There hasn’t been that much snow in NYC in the past few years (read: the lifetime of the four year olds) making it a fun way to sort of introduce it to them.

I found many 2-ingredient snow recipes but decided to try the baking soda and shaving cream version. I wasn’t so happy with it so I tweaked it a bit and decided to share the results.

Super cool ideas for 2 ingredient fake snow

Different ways you can use it

First of all, what would you use fake snow for? You probably came to this post one of two ways: you were proactively looking for a 2 ingredient fake snow recipe and you probably know what you want it for, or you bumped into it somewhere on social media.

In case you belong to the second category, here are some things this 2 ingredient fake snow is spot on for:

• Sensory bins – Thanks to the cold feeling and the scent of the shaving cream, it’s the ultimate multisensory experience!! More on this below…
• Small world trays – The main difference between sensory and small world play is that small world usually recreates a scene for kids to pretend with, and sensory bins create more of a digging, feeling experience without necessarily a play structure involved. I mixed both in one, and if you use this very sensory snow, any small world tray will feel that way. But you can still choose a small world direction or a sensory focus.
• Winter decor – If you’re looking for something to add a snow look to your winter decor, this is perfect. It holds in clumps but also powders, so you can make piles with it, or sprinkle some lightly on little houses, etc. Just know: it will harden, but very crumby and brittle, so use it sparingly and contain it. If you’re making a winter display on a tray, you can us it, but it’ll be a disaster if it isn’t somehow contained.
• Winter science – Challenge kids to ask: why does the snow feel cold? I answer this later in this post.

Note: this is NOT a good fake snow to mix into slime. It breaks down the slime and totally ruins it.

Fake snow sensory bins/small world trays

I turned this into a cross between a sensory bin and small world tray.

I used large-sized sheet pans and spread the snow. I added these DIY snowman peg dolls, and bottle cap snowmen (tutorial coming soon.)

I also tossed in loads of white pom pom “snowballs” and crafted some larger pom pom snowballs using chenille yarn and a pom pom maker (learn how to make pom poms from yarn here). These added loads of texture to the already very sensory tray.

More ideas to mix into a 2-ingredient fake snow sensory bin/small world tray:

• If you want it even more small-world focused, you can add little toy houses, people (peg dolls or even Little People – such as this Frozen set – can work), and little tractor toys as snow plows.
• Add in some little trees to cover with snow.
• Toss in some toy spades (or if you can find it, snow shovels) for scooping fun.
• Add glittery foam snowflakes for more texture variety.
• If you’re truly brave, you can even add some glitter to the snow itself.

Why does fake snow feel cold?

Yes, this fake snow is cool to the touch! Would you believe it? You don’t even need to freeze it or refrigerate it. When you squish the snow, the room temperature ingredients turn cold.

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) combined with the fatty acids in shaving cream creates a reaction that causes the snow to feel cold. This is called an endothermic reaction. That means that it absorbs heat from its surroundings (in this case your hands) and makes things feel cold.

That makes this ridiculously easy 2-ingredient fake snow a super cool science experiment as well!

Tips for making 2 ingredient fake snow

Getting the texture right

The texture of the snow can really vary but I found that if it was too powdery, it had an unpleasant feel. It was even better a little too wet – although it’s messier like that.

The trick is to start with baking soda, and incorporate the shaving cream slowly. As long as it leaves a powder on your finger, mix in small amounts of additional shaving cream. If it gets a bit too wet, add in a very small amount of baking soda at a time.

The ideal texture is one that leaves the hands almost clean, and squishes together similarly to Kinetic Sand. But, if you squish it, it falls apart.

With that texture, you can form snow balls, mounds, and pack it down to resemble real snow. You can sprinkle it on toy trees and houses too.

Controlling the smell

Another very critical tip is to be aware of the smell of your shaving creams. It’s tempting to hit up the dollar tree and get super cheap shaving cream – which is what I did – but the smell can be really potent.

If you have a shaving cream that you personally like, you can use that one. If you don’t try to go for unscented (you can always add a bit of essential oil for scent) rather than getting one with an overwhelming scent.

Recipe for 2 ingredient fake snow

Again, the recipe isn’t perfect because it’s not as easy as just scooping in measurements to replicate, but I’ve formulated it as best as I can so that you can get good results.

Ingredients

• 3 lb baking soda
• 1.5 cans shaving cream (11-12 oz)

Note: This recipe is designed to make a nice amount to play with and fill a sensory bin. You can start with one lb. baking soda and half a can of shaving cream if you just need a little bit for decor.

Either way, have extra of both handy in case you need to tweak the texture.

Equipment

• A bowl or container to mix up your sensory snow in
• A spoon to mix it with
• For play: trays such as baking sheets, snow man figures, etc.

Process

1. Pour all three baking sodas into the container. Shake up your shaving cream, and squirt a whole can in.

2. Mix it up well with the spoon.

3. Slowly add small amounts of shaving cream from the second can, mixing as you go along. Feel it along the way and test to see if you like the texture. If it leaves a bit of icky feeling powder on your hands, squirt in more – a two-second squirt at a time.

4. If you add too much shaving cream, add more baking soda 1-2 T at a time (you don’t need to measure, but that’s the rough quantity you’ll need).

And that, my friends, is how you make a fabulous 2-ingredient fake snow that is perfect for decor, play, and winter fun!

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