The groundhog has spoken! Six more weeks of winter fun! We just spent the week in the Maryland- DC area. The kids have absolutely adored being in the snow. That made me wonder about how to bring the experience home. After some research I came upon a fun recipe to make snow with only two ingredients that are most likely in your home already. To make the at home snow you will need:
- 500g of bicarbonate soda (or baking soda)
- 1 x can of shaving cream (give or take)
Bicarbonate soda and baking soda are two different compounds. And this can be a fun chemistry lesson for the littles. In brief:
Baking Soda vs Bicarbonate
1. Bicarbonate and baking soda help keep pH in check, bicarbonate mostly in our body and baking soda in laboratories.
2. Bicarbonate and baking soda both have HCO3 in their chemical formulas.
3. Bicarbonate, however, is an anion. Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is a complete compound.
4. Baking soda has less likelihood of a chemical reaction compared to bicarbonate because its ions are now partially resolved with the addition of sodium. It takes a more powerful reaction to break up the bonds in baking soda.
5. Baking soda can be thought of as an all-around substance with its numerous uses. Bicarbonate, on the other hand, needs to be part of a chemical reaction to form another substance for it to be useful for other purposes.
CREATING SNOW:
To make the snow simply pour the bicarbonate into a bowl and begin adding the shaving cream. We used just shy of an entire can for the consistency that we wanted. There are no exact measurements. Just add and mix. And remember, you can always add more but you can never take it back out.
R wanted to add blue glitter to make it look like "Frozen" snow. W wanted to turn it into blue and green colors. The food coloring definitely changed the consistency and called for more baking soda. Feel free to get creative with your Littles and experiment a little. The consistency is much like snow meets magic sand and clean up is relatively easy. Spend this time creating warm winter memories, discussing groundhogs day and learning the difference of the chemistries of bicarbonate versus baking soda. As always please remember to share your pictures and comments on the blog forum. We are excited to share in the memories! Happy creating!
About Me
I am a retired veteran turned play at home mom. I have a two-year-old daughter, a three-year-old son and a 10-year-old stepson that I am honored to mommy every day. I look forward to sharing our play at home experiences and learning from you and yours!
Ariel Sahota
Fusion Contributor
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