This snow volcano science experiment will get kids super excited and engaged! It’s simple to set up, and you probably already have all of the ingredients at home!

You Might Also Like These Posts:     

• How to Make Snow Dough
• Winter Sensory Bins 
• How to Make Cold Snow

Snow Volcano Set-Up

First, you need to make your fake snow. This will allow kids to shape and form things, such as a volcano.
Mix baking soda and shaving cream to do this. If you want the mixture to be cold, leave the baking soda in the freezer overnight. We didn’t measure when making our snow. We just started with the baking soda and just kept adding shaving cream until we had the consistency we wanted.
Now you want to set up your vinegar cups. We used three cups of vinegar and added food dye to each cup.

Grab an eye dropper or syringe and that’s it! You are ready to have some fun!

Snow Volcano Experiment

We didn’t have any liquid droppers on us so we used an old syringe from an infant Tylenol bottle. Since my boy has never used one before, I started by showing him how to pull up the liquid and then dispense it. I told him that baking soda (from the sensory bin) and vinegar have a special reaction when they touch. Let me tell you, he was shocked when he saw what happened!

The baking soda bubbles and rises up, plus the food dye makes for a wonderful colorful display! Nico had a blast squirting the vinegar in all different spots of his sensory bin!

He was determined to cover every white spot he could find with some colored vinegar.

When he finished covering all of the white spots with the food colored vinegar, he asked if he could play with it. He dug right in and got messy with this bin. Then he started bringing in some of his favorite toys to play with. I love how creative kids can be when given no instruction.


This is a great winter activity that takes very little set-up. It’s sure to engage children of all ages!
If you are looking for more snow-themed fun, make sure to check out these activities:

• Snow Dough in Two Simple Steps
• Fake Snow That is Cold!

And don’t forget to check out this snow-themed resource.

The post How to Make a Snow Volcano! appeared first on Mrs V's Chickadees.

Here’s a really simple recipe for making fake snow and you can easily make it cold! This is a great activity to do with your toddler or preschooler. Plus, it makes a great sensory bin filler when you are done!

You Might Also Like These Posts:     

• How to Make Snow Dough
• Winter Sensory Bins 
• Snow Volcano

Ingredients to Make Fake Snow

I wanted to make fake snow with my kids because even though we live in New York, we haven’t had any significant snow this season. We did this activity as a part of our Snow Unit.

All you need to make this fake snow is baking soda and shaving cream. You can also use glitter and snow beads but these are not necessary.

We started by putting the baking soda in the freezer overnight. This way it would be nice and chilled the next day when we played with it. Then we poured it into the container that we typically use for sensory bins. I didn’t measure it, I just eye-balled how much I thought would be good for both of my kids.

Then we added shaving cream. Every once in a while we would stop to mix it all up (with our hands). We continued to add shaving cream as needed until it was a nice consistency.

Technically, that’s all you need, but I had some iridescent glitter and snow beads in my craft bin so I pulled those out and we added them as well. It was a great addition to our fake snow.

The consistency of this combination is really cool. It makes for a perfect sensory bin filler.

How to Make a Fake Snow Sensory Bin

Before we started this activity, I pulled a few items that I thought would work well with our fake snow sensory bin. I placed them in this chip dish, along with our usual sensory bin tools. Whenever I do something like this, I use it as an “invitation to play.” Meaning, I don’t give any directions with any of these materials or tools. I simply place them in front of my children and I let them take charge.

It’s really amazing to see how their imagination just takes over and they immediately start to play with their fake snow. This fake snow sensory bin kept my two kids busy for a loooong time!

My daughter loved throwing all of the materials in the bin and covering them with fake snow. She loved the feel so much she even took her socks off so she could stick her little feet in the sensory bin.

My son, on the other hand, focused on driving all of the cars through the snow. He found this to be so entertaining that he asked if he could get more of his toy trucks and cars to play with. This sensory bin kept my two littles engaged for a nice chunk of time.

If you are looking for more snow-themed activities, make sure to check out this resource:

The post Fake Snow That Is Actually COLD! appeared first on Mrs V's Chickadees.