8 Fake Snow For Sensory Bin Ideas

I am such a child when it comes to snow! Growing up by the seaside we didn’t have a lot of snow and so I often turned to fake snow to get my fix! I did some experimenting and found some easy fake snow options for sensory play.

Fake snow can be made using edible ingredients mixed together, or simple household items, making them super easy to set up in your sensory bin for a winter themed snow sensory bin.

As well as ideas for creating fake snow, I’ve also got some creative play ideas for your snow. You’ll find sensory bins and small world play ideas to try at home with your little ones.

8 Ideas for Fake Snow Sensory Bin

1. Cotton Wool for Super Soft Snowballs

Cotton wool is a great sensory bin filler and it’s perfect for creating snowballs. You could use cotton wool balls if filling a deep sensory bin. Alternatively for a smaller sensory tray, you could use sheets of cotton wool for blankets of fake snow.

2. Salt + Iridescent Glitter for added Sparkle

Salt (or sugar) makes a great base for a sensory bin or sensory tray because it’s super cheap. Adding iridescent glitter to the salt really makes it pop with a magical feel to this fake snow sensory bin.

3. Icing Sugar for Super Sweet Snow

Icing sugar makes great snow and is often used to decorate gingerbread houses. If you can cope with mess (this stuff gets everywhere) then this is a super fun fake snow for the sensory bin.

4. Shaving Foam for Stylable Snow Play

This is obviously not as similar to the texture of snow, but it a great sensory material and you can fill a tray very easily with it. You can also use foam soaps to achieve the same.

5. Cornflour for a Powdery Snow

Cornflour is so soft to touch, and similar in consistency to the icing sugar but less sticky! It has a lovely powdery texture for fake snow and is one of our favourite types of fake snow for sensory play with a bit of a crunch when compacted!

6. Flour + Yoghurt for Sticky Sensory Snow

This was a bi of an experiment using leftover things in the fridge! I added some plain flour to some greek yogurt and created a sticky snow that is great for messy play! If you want it less sticky then just increase the amount of flour to yogurt. That is the beauty of mixing ingredients like this, as you can experiment until you gte the texture you desire.

7. Pudding Rice for a Snow Filler

Pudding rice is chunkier than normal rice and so it works great as a winter themed filler for the sensory bin that can be used over and over again!

8. Flour + Oil for Mold-able Snow

Flour and oil are a classic combination – we used plain flour and a little vegetable oil to create this mold-able fake snow – great for creating snowmen or using with cutters as it holds together. Use a little oil and keep adding until the desired consistency is achieved.

What can I use my fake snow for?

Now that you armed with lots of different sensory play fake snow options (both messy and non-messy), you can get playing!

We had a lot of fun trying out all the snow we had made! All of the above fake snow ideas work great in a sensory bin, but if you want to take it a step further then you can have a go at these ideas too:

Shaving Foam Penguin Play

We filled our tuff tray with shaving foam and got some penguin bath toys that we had. We had great fun styling some hair and slipping and sliding the penguins around the tray!

Icing Sugar Snow Fall

We decided to recreate our own snowfall using the icing sugar and a mini sieve (the bigger the sieve, the bigger the mess!) And we used a toy house we had to create a beautiful snowy scene!

Salt Snow Tray Mark Making

Spreading the salt and glitter over the tuff tray meant that we were able to use it to draw fun shapes in the snow! You could either use a finger, or this would work well with a paintbrush.

Cotton Wool Igloo Small World

We lined the tuff tray with cotton wool sheets and cotton wool balls. We then decided to make an igloo and create a small world using our Playmobil people.

We taped half a toilet paper roll to the front of an upside down plastic bowl and to create the shape and then covered it in doubled sided sticky tape to stick the cotton wool to.

This is a great activity for little ones to get involved in!

Sensory Play Fake Snow Recap:

Fake snow for sensory bins ideas for toddlers and prechoolers:

Cotton wool for snowballs
Salt mixed with Glitter for sparkly snow
Icing sugar for creating beautiful snowfall
Style-able shaving foam snow
Cornflour for powdery footprints in the snow with a crunch
Flour & yogurt make a great messy play option for snow
Pudding rice is a great option for a sensory bin filler
Flour and oil are great for creating a mold-able snow for snowmen!

Have fun creating with your fake snow for sensory play!

I’d love to know what your favourite type of snow to make is? Let me know in the comments below!

Louisa | Mum’s Creative Cupboard x