How to Make Fake Snow

There are a couple of ways to get the ingredient necessary to make non-toxic fake snow. You can purchase it or you can harvest sodium polyacrylate from common household sources. You can find sodium polyacrylate inside disposable diapers or at a garden center, as crystals used to help keep the soil moist in gardening .  All you need to do to make this type of artificial snow is add water to the sodium polyacrylate.

Add some water, mix the gel. Add more water until you have the desired amount of wetness. The gel will not dissolve. It’s just a matter of how ‘slushy’ you want your snow. Sodium polyacrylate ‘snow’ feels cool to the touch because it is mainly water. If you want to add more realism to the artificial snow, you can refrigerate or freeze it.   The gel will not melt. If it dries out, you can rehydrate it by adding water.

The Process

Start by  cutting open the diapers and removing the sodium polyacrylate (fake snow) into a large bowl or bin. This material used to make fake snow is non-toxic, although you wouldn’t want to eat it. I picked up a package of 25 disposable diapers, the overnight kind.  Once you have harvested out the sodium polyacrylate from the diapers you are ready to add water.  Begin slowly,  mix with your hand while adding in the water.  Once the desired consistency has been reached the fake snow is ready.

Note: Use your best judgment and due diligence when using these materials with young children.

Helpful Tips

1. Fake snow is non-toxic, as you would expect from a material used in disposable diapers. However, don’t purposely eat it. ‘Non-toxic’ is not the same as eatable and ‘good for you’.
2. When you are done playing with fake snow, it’s safe to throw it away.
3. If you want colored snow you can mix food coloring into the fake snow.
4. If you want drier snow, you can reduce the amount of water the polymer can absorb by adding a small amount of salt.