Science Project: Make Your Own Snow

Snow has always been a cozy feature of the holiday season. Cozy, of course, if you’re inside by the fire and not standing out in a blizzard. Making your own snow is perfect for Science Projects when school starts up again in January, or for adding another seasonal decoration for the house.

Make Your Own Snow!
Courtesy of chemistry.about.com

Some Ski Hills Have Huge Machines that Make Snow
Courtesy of environmentalresearchweb.org

Fake Snow to Decorate the House- Inside and Out
Courtesy of diylife.com

All you need is sodium polyacrylate. No problem, right?. Actually, sodium polyacrylate is an active ingredient in astronaut 'maximum absorbency garments", fire-control gels, soil conditioners, those toys that grow when you add water, and disposable diapers. The compound can absorb a lot of water.

For snow purposes, you can find sodium polyacrylate in clean disposable diapers. If you get a few you should be able to collect the fluffy white stuff and make your snow.

Materials:

• Bowl
• Sodium polyacrylate (from clean disposable diapers)
• Water

Procedure:

1. Collect sodium polyacrylate from inside a clean disposable diaper
2. Place in bowl.
3. Add water to desired snow consistency. For slushier snow add more water. For “drier” snow add less water and a little salt.

If decorating with this snow, you may want to have the drier variety and make sure to not place it on items that can be damaged by water. For colorful snow (want to do a yellow snow prank?) just add food coloring to the mix. Just a few drops will go a long way.

Have Your Say

Why do you think adding salt to the mixture will make the snow “drier” and less slushy? Share your ideas in the comment’s section below.