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Playing with... Snow?

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Still no snow in our neck of the woods so I had to get creative...

There is a fun project going around Pinterst that I thought looked perfect for us to try! It was on Toys in the Dryer.  I bought a bar of Ivory Soap and cut it in fourths. I took 1/4 and microwaved it! Yes, put it in the microwave and started her up! We watched and quickly a change happened! Peek in there to see!
Jake was mesmerized! How fun! The soup grows slowly and largely (that is why we used 1/4 of the bar). I am not sure what the chemical reaction is that causes this to happen, we aren't ready for the technical part of the experiment, but it sure is cool to watch.
We pulled it out after the soap stopped growing. I do not know the exact time but it was about 30-60 seconds. The soap comes out pretty cool to the touch, but I still had it sit before letting Jake touch it. We "cooked" all of the soap creating a nice size for some "snow" removal!
 

I placed the "snow" in a plastic tub and grabbed some of Jake's trucks.
Jake couldn't have been happier! We used dump trucks and bulldozers to "clear" the roads of the snow. The soap is very light and fluffy. It is soft and not sticky or moist in any way. It is quite unusually perfect!!
     

     
Jake spent hours playing in this Sensory Box! He had so much fun and even extended his play to have the workers "go get lunch." He picked up the "snow" and made it snow again by dropping it from above. 
After playing a while I suggested we use the trucks' wheels to make tracks on construction paper. The soap crumbles a bit while playing with it. It gets on the wheels and is perfect for making tracks.
This was a such a great activity! We had more fun than I can describe! I am sure this will be something we do often! I was really pleased to see Jake use his imagination and really play. He seemed to get into the flow and play for hours. It was fabulous to watch! Try this experiment to ease the dreary winter days!
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Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 21, 2012 at 7:30 AM

    Brilliant! That looks like so much fun, we will have to try it too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jess-January 21, 2012 at 9:31 PM

    Do try it! It was so much fun! Thanks for the comment!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beth (www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com)January 23, 2012 at 8:23 AM

    I've seen the microwaving soap several places, but never using it as snow - LOVE it! Thanks for linking up to TGIF! Have a GREAT week,
    Beth =-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ann @ The Scrapbooking HousewifeJanuary 25, 2012 at 2:21 AM

    Love this idea!! Will have to try that for my son's sensory bin playtime!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Annie MoffattJanuary 26, 2012 at 9:56 AM

    What a fun idea:) I LOVE it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJanuary 22, 2013 at 1:01 PM

    I tried this activity with my preschool Head Start class but I very quickly discovered that the "snow" breaks down and becomes a fine powder. When it became powdery it went airborne and left all of us coughing and sneezing! I had to close the sensory box right away and clean up the dusty children. I think that we will stick with dry white rice instead.

    ReplyDelete

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