Snow Activities: 26 Snow Games, Experiments and Sensory Ideas

Snow day with no snow? Here are 26 snow activities you can run with a tub of Party GOAT Instant Snow: snowball games, sensory bin ideas, crafts and science experiments, indoors or out. Most need nothing more than the snow, a tray or pool and whatever toys are already in the house. The throwing and digging games are best outside, in an inflatable pool or on a groundsheet, so the snow stays contained and cleanup is easy. The trays, crafts and experiments work anywhere. If you haven't mixed your snow yet, the Instant Snow instructions page has the water ratio, snowball tips and cleanup.

The activities are grouped by the kind of fun: throwing games, sensory and small world play, crafts and building, science, and fundraising ideas for schools and groups. Each one lists what you need and the steps, with a fun fact or teaching point where there is one worth sharing.

Get the free printable Instant Snow Activity Guide

Every pack comes with a free printable Activity Guide: all 26 activities below in a print-friendly PDF, plus yeti target posters and an animal tracks guide for the games that need them. Enter your email and we'll send it to you.

Fake snowball games

Party GOAT Instant Snow packs into snowballs that hold together when thrown, which is what makes these games work. Make your snow a little wetter than usual for snowballs (the instructions page shows how). Throwing snow over a groundsheet, tub or inflatable pool will help you regather the snow for the next round. Put goggles on anyone in the firing line.

1. Snowball Shot Put

  • A fun way to teach kids to throw a snowball without it breaking apart.
  • Make snowballs of equal size and weight.
  • Mark a starting line and take turns pushing the snowball as far as you can, shot put style, from the shoulder.
  • Measure the distances with a tape measure or pre-marked intervals. Farthest throw wins.
  • For a laugh, try a spinning discus throw and see how far the snowball gets before it comes apart.
snowball fight fake snow party goat instant snow

2. Snowball Fight

  • Split into two teams for a friendly snowball battle.
  • Set boundaries for the play area and agree the ground rules first. Goggles on, and never aim for the face.
  • Teams can build forts from tubs, chairs or cushions to duck behind.
Instant Snow Snowball Games - Yeti Target Toss

3. Snowball Yeti Target Toss

  • Set up five targets along a fence or wall and number them 1 to 5. Our printable yeti posters do the job (they come with the Activity Guide, sign up above).
  • Mark a throwing line about 10 ft (3 m) from the wall.
  • Take turns throwing at the yetis in order. Each yeti is a little smaller than the last, so it gets harder as you go.
  • First player to hit all five in order wins.
snowball games lawn darts

4. Snowball Lawn Darts

  • Lay out a large bullseye on a groundsheet using skipping ropes, hula hoops, a garden hose or chalk.
  • Give each ring a score: 5 for the bullseye, 3 for the middle ring, 1 for the outer ring.
  • Players take turns throwing snowballs and score where they land. Closest to the center scores most.
instant snow party games pin the snowball on the yeti

5. Pin the Yeti with Snowballs

  • Stick a yeti poster to a fence or wall and mark a throwing line about 10 ft (3 m) away.
  • Blindfold the first player, spin them around three times and hand them a snowball. Don't point them the right way; see if they can find the yeti on their own.
  • The blindfolded player tries to hit the yeti. Take turns. Closest to the target wins.
  • A fun variation: everyone not throwing lines up either side of the yeti, in the snowball danger zone. A miss might clip a friend. Goggles on for the whole line.

6. Snowball Toss and Catch

  • Teams of two. Each team makes a well-compacted snowball.
  • Stand facing your teammate, close together, and gently toss the snowball back and forth.
  • After each successful catch, the catcher takes a step back. Re-compact the snowball before every throw.
  • The snowball loses a little snow each round and gets smaller. The team that gets farthest apart without dropping it, or running out of snow, wins.

Snow sensory bin ideas

A snow sensory bin is a tray or tub of Instant Snow with toys, scoops and moulds added for open-ended play. It is dry to the touch, so it suits classrooms and playrooms that won't tolerate a water tray, and the same snow can be covered and brought out again tomorrow. The ideas below start with a plain tray and build up from there.

sensory play ideas with instant snow

7. Instant Snow Sensory Play

  • Fill a large tray or tub with Instant Snow (ratio and small-batch amounts are on the instructions page).
  • Let the children explore it with their hands: squeeze it, sift it, shape it, notice that it feels cool.
  • Add winter-themed toys such as little snowmen, polar animals or figurines so they can build their own snow scenes and stories.
fake snow games and activities

8. Grow Snow in Your Hands

  • Each child cups their hands together.
  • Add a spoonful of Instant Snow powder to their hands.
  • Pour water slowly on top and watch the snow grow and spill over their fingers.
  • Talk about what just happened: the powder is a superabsorbent polymer that soaks up water and swells (see the science section below).
how to make a winter terrarium with instant snow

9. Winter Terrarium

  • Take a clear glass jar or container.
  • Add a layer of Instant Snow in the bottom.
  • Add small winter animals, tiny plastic trees, snowy foliage or real clippings from the garden.

10. Make Animal Tracks in the Snow

  • Use the animal tracks guide from the Activity Guide (sign up above) to see what bear, moose and other tracks look like.
  • Let the kids recreate the tracks in the snow with their hands or small objects.
  • Encourage storytelling: which animals have been through, and where were they going?

Fun fact: some animals have evolved for deep snow. The snowshoe hare has large, fur-covered hind feet that work like natural snowshoes, spreading its weight so it doesn't sink as it hops.

  • bear tracks in the snow fake snow activities

    Bear tracks

  • fake snow wolf and turkey tracks instant snow

    Can you guess these tracks?

  • moose foot prints in the snow fake snow instant snow

    Moose tracks
build a snow raceway race track with insta snow activity guide

11. Make a Snow Raceway

  • Carve a racetrack through the snow with toy shovels or spoons.
  • Add twists, turns and snow-covered tunnels for toy cars.
  • Race the cars and see whose reaches the finish line first.
instant snow activities and games party goat

12. Buried in Snow Treasure Hunt

  • Hide small toys in a tray with enough snow to cover them.
  • Give the kids a list of what to find (toy cars, plastic dinosaurs, letters, counters).
  • Dig, uncover and tick them off. Great as a race between two trays.

Fun fact: woolly mammoths and ancient cave lions have been found preserved in permafrost, frozen ground that never thaws. Scientists study them to learn how those animals lived thousands of years ago.

13. Snow Construction Site

  • Set the snow up on a groundsheet, in a tub or in an inflatable pool.
  • Bring out the diggers, dump trucks, front loaders and bulldozers.
  • Bulk snow to scoop, push and pile is the whole game. Keep the snow contained and it will last the afternoon.

14. Turn Yourself into a Snow Mermaid

  • Sit on a groundsheet and bury your legs in snow.
  • Get friends or family to shape a mermaid's tail over your feet.

Fake snow decoration and craft ideas

Instant Snow glistens like the real thing and keeps its look in direct sun, so it works for Christmas displays and photo backdrops as well as hands-on crafts. 

how to make instant snow globes fake snow for Christmas baubles

15. Make a Decorative Snow Globe

  • Use a clear plastic ball or bauble that opens in half.
  • Fill the bottom half with snow and the top half with whatever you like: a tiny tree, animal figurine, Christmas decoration.

Fun fact: snow globes started life in the early 19th century as paperweights. They took off once makers began putting miniature winter scenes inside the glass.

how to make colored snow art with instant snow fake snow party

16. Colored Rainbow Snow Art

  • Add a few drops of food colouring to a cup of water, then make a small batch of snow with it. Repeat for each colour.
  • Layer the colored snow in a tall glass jar for a rainbow effect.
  • Leave it a day or two and watch the layers start to blend into new colors.

Teaching point: which two colors made each new one? Red and blue make purple, yellow and blue make green, red and yellow make orange.

decorating under Christmas tree with instant snow

17. Christmas Decorating

  • Lay Instant Snow on a groundsheet under the Christmas tree to bring a little winter indoors.
  • Build a miniature Christmas village or diorama on a snow-covered landscape.
  • Fill glass jars with snow and add Christmas figurines or ornaments.
how to build a snowman with instant snow yeti activity

18. Build a Snow Yeti

  • Help your child mould the snow into a yeti lying down.
  • Use sticks, pebbles and leaves for the face, hair and claws.
  • Take a photo before it gets rebuilt into something else.

Fun fact: the yeti is also called the Abominable Snowman. Many people in the Himalayan regions believe it exists and is simply very hard to spot against the snow in its fluffy white coat. Do you believe in yetis?

how to build an igloo with instant snow party goat

19. Build an Igloo

  • Freeze Instant Snow into blocks: fill large ice cube trays or thin plastic containers with snow and freeze overnight.
  • Have an adult cut the frozen snow into rectangular blocks (let it thaw a little first if it is too hard to cut).
  • Stack the blocks into a miniature igloo.

Fun fact: real igloos are built from carved snow blocks set in a curved dome. Snow traps air, so it insulates, and the inside of an igloo stays far warmer than the air outside.

how to make snow sculptures with instant snow

20. Make Snow Sculptures

  • Use sand castle moulds and buckets. Make the snow a little wetter so it packs.
  • Press the snow firmly into the mould, then lift the mould away.
  • Animals, shapes, castles: get creative and see which moulds turn out best. 

Fun fact: the biggest snow sculpture ever made was over 122 ft tall, about the height of a 12-story building. It was built in Harbin, China, by a team of artists and builders.

how to make a snow volcano science experiment with instant snow

21. Build a Snowy Mountain Volcano

  • Build a mountain of snow around an empty water bottle, leaving the top open.
  • Spoon a heaped tablespoon of baking soda into the bottle through a funnel.
  • Mix vinegar in a pouring jug with a few drops of red and yellow food coloring.
  • Pour the vinegar in quickly and stand back as the "lava" erupts down the snowy slopes.
  • Does the lava melt the snow? Have a look.

Teaching point: begin with a quick chat about chemical reactions. Baking soda and vinegar react to make carbon dioxide gas, and the gas bubbles are what push the lava up and out.

Fun fact: eruptions through snow and ice can produce volcanic lightning, from ash and ice particles colliding in the plume.

how to make snow angels with instant snow fake snow instasnow

22. Make Snow Angels

  • Spread the snow in a thin layer on a groundsheet, big enough for your child to lie down on.
  • Lie flat, flap arms and legs, and stand up carefully to see the angel.

Teaching point: look at the symmetry of the angel. Try different poses and see what shapes you get.

Snow science experiments for kids

Instant Snow is a superabsorbent polymer, so it makes a tidy classroom experiment: a dry powder that swells into snow in seconds, and can be collapsed again with salt. The three experiments below suit preschool through middle school, with the teaching points pitched so you can simplify or stretch them.

What is Instant Snow?

Party GOAT Instant Snow is made from a premium crosslinked potassium polyacrylate, a superabsorbent polymer. When water touches the powder, the long polymer chains attract and hold the water molecules and swell up, turning a spoonful of dry powder into a fluffy, snow-like pile. The water is held inside the particles rather than sitting between them, which is why good instant snow feels dry to the touch. Potassium polyacrylate is also used by farmers as a soil amendment to help soil hold water, which is the idea behind the plant experiment below.

23. Temperature Experiment

  • Put an equal amount of Instant Snow powder in two containers.
  • Add ice-cold water to one and warm water to the other, the same amount in each.
  • Watch which one finishes growing first, then compare how much snow each made.

Teaching point: temperature changes how fast the powder absorbs water, not how much it can hold. The warm container fluffs up faster because the water molecules are moving faster and get into the polymer sooner. Give the cold one a minute and it catches up to about the same amount of snow. A good way to talk about reaction rate versus capacity.

24. Instant Snow and Plant Growth

  • Set up two small pots with soil.
  • In one pot, mix a small amount of Instant Snow through the soil before planting a seed. Plant a seed in the other pot without it.
  • Water both the same and compare growth over a few weeks.

Teaching point: potassium polyacrylate soaks up water and releases it slowly, which is why it is used in farming to help soil hold moisture. Students can observe whether the snow pot stays moist longer between waterings and what that does for the seedling.

25. Salt and Instant Snow

  • Dissolve a teaspoon of salt in a little warm water, pour it over a cup of Instant Snow, mix it in and watch. (Dry salt sprinkled on top does nothing; it has to be dissolved first.)
  • Time how long it takes the snow to turn back toward liquid.
  • Try different amounts of salt in other cups and see whether the amount changes the speed.

Teaching point: each grain of snow is a tiny gel bead with water locked inside it. Pour salty water around the beads and the water inside them moves out toward the saltier water (this is osmosis), so the beads shrink and the snow collapses into a puddle. The saltier the water, the faster it happens.

Snow fundraising ideas for schools, camps and youth groups

Instant Snow makes a good fundraiser because the snow is not used up: contain it on a groundsheet or in a pool and the same batch is thrown, dug through and rebuilt all day, so one pack runs a whole stall. It works when it is too cold for water games and just as well in summer, since Party GOAT Instant Snow keeps looking like snow in the sun. We have supplied hundreds of school fundraisers and youth groups; here are the snow stalls that work.

Fundraising ideas with Instant Snow bucket dump challenge

26. Avalanche Snow Bucket Dump

  • You need a Splash Tower or similar dunk-bucket stand (the kind usually filled with water).
  • Fill the bucket with Instant Snow instead of water.
  • Hit the target and an avalanche of snow lands on the volunteer in the chair below.
  • Charge a dollar a throw to bury a teacher, coach or boss. A winter carnival favorite when it is too cold to soak anyone.

Snowball the Principal

  • Cut a face hole in a large board, or use one of our yeti posters with the face cut out, and have the principal, teacher or coach stand behind it wearing goggles.
  • Mark a throwing line about 10 ft (3 m) back and sell snowballs by the handful or by the throw.
  • Set the board up on a groundsheet so every missed snowball is scooped straight back into the supply.

Snowball Carnival Stall

  • Lay out a bullseye target on a groundsheet, or set up paper cups to knock down.
  • Sell snowballs (3 per round). Rings score points. Set a prize ladder for the scores.
  • Or knock down all the cups, to win a prize.
  • One volunteer re-packs snowballs from the returned snow while another runs the line.

Snow Dig

  • Fill a tub or inflatable pool with snow and bury tokens, counters or numbered balls in it.
  • Sell a dig: one scoop or thirty seconds of hands in the snow. Tokens trade for prizes.
  • Good for the youngest visitors who can't yet throw, and it runs itself indoors.

Snow Day Photo Booth

  • Spread snow on a groundsheet in front of a backdrop, add props (sleds, beanies, a Christmas tree, reindeer) and sell photos or let families take their own for a donation.
  • Works for Christmas fairs in warm climates and for "Christmas in July" events.

Snow Play Pit

  • An inflatable pool of snow with scoops, moulds and diggers. Sell timed entry for little ones while parents visit the other stalls.
  • Keep it away from hard floors and foot traffic, and have a volunteer on the edge: Instant Snow is slippery underfoot, so children sit or kneel in the pit rather than walk through it.

Mixing, safety and cleanup

Running a bigger event? Email sales@partygoat.com with the area you are trying to fill and we’ll help you work out how much snow to order.

The water ratio and spoon counts, how to get powdery or packing snow, where to set up and how to clean up are all on our how to make Instant Snow page. Read it before your first batch.

For any of the games above: set up in a tub, an inflatable pool or on a groundsheet, keep it off tiles, concrete and decking, play sitting or kneeling rather than running through it, wear goggles for throwing games, and scoop or vacuum the leftovers so nobody slips.

Get the snow

One pack, every game on this page. Packs from 7 gallons to 100 gallons, and larger packs cost less per gallon.

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Snow activities FAQs

What is a snow sensory bin?

A snow sensory bin is a tray or tub filled with fake snow and a handful of toys, scoops and moulds for open-ended play. Instant Snow suits it because it is dry to the touch, cool, and holds its shape, so children can dig, mould, hide and find things in it. Cover the tray between uses and the same tray can last several sessions.

What do you put in a snow sensory bin?

Start with the snow, then add things to scoop and hide: polar animals, small vehicles, cookie cutters, sand moulds, pinecones, pompoms or letters to find. Change the theme to match what the children are learning, an Arctic scene one week and a construction site the next.

How long does sensory snow last?

Party GOAT Instant Snow does not need to be made on the day. Make it ahead and keep it covered so dust stays out and it does not dry out. Covered, a tray keeps its look for repeat sessions; uncovered, the snow slowly dries and shrinks back to small granules over a number of days. Snow that is squeezed and worked hard session after session compacts and can start to feel a little slimy, so swap in a fresh batch when it does.

What snow activities can you do indoors?

Sensory trays, small world scenes, snow raceways for toy cars, treasure hunts, snow globes, rainbow snow art, a snow volcano and three classroom experiments all work indoors on a tray or in a tub. Throwing games are better outside as they can get quite messy. 

Can you make snowballs with fake snow?

Yes. Party GOAT Instant Snow packs into snowballs that hold together when thrown. Make a batch of snow, then mix a little extra water into a portion until a handful holds its shape when squeezed. Throw with a shot put push rather than a fling. Goggles are a good idea for anyone in the firing line.

Is fake snow safe for kids?

Yes. Party GOAT Instant Snow is non toxic and safe for kids: it is not classified as hazardous and is independently toy safety tested, with no heavy metals or phthalates detected. It is for ages 3 and up with adult supervision. It is very slippery on hard floors, so set it up away from foot traffic and play in it sitting or kneeling. Eating it is unlikely to cause harm but should not be encouraged.

Can you use instant snow for a science experiment?

Yes. Instant Snow is a superabsorbent polymer, so it demonstrates absorption, reaction rate (warm versus cold water) and how salt draws water back out of a polymer. The three experiments on this page suit preschool through middle school and take a few minutes each to set up.

How much fake snow do I need for a party or classroom?

A 15 gallon pack covers about 24 square feet at 1 inch deep, enough for a sensory table or a snowball stall. For a single child's tray, a cup of snow is plenty. The instructions page has the per-batch amounts, and for a large event you can email sales@partygoat.com for advice.

Can I run a fundraiser with instant snow?

Yes. Because the snow is not used up when it is contained, one pack can run a stall all day: a snow bucket dump, snowball target toss, snow dig or snow play pit. See the fundraising ideas above, and set up on a groundsheet so missed snowballs go straight back into the supply.