Dec 10

Fake Snow in Speech Therapy

Making fake snow is a bit messy, but it is FUN and a great sensory experience.  All you do is combine conditioner with baking soda.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups of baking soda
  • 1/2 cup of white hair conditioner

Directions:

Mix the two ingredients together until you reach a snow-like texture. If it’s too wet, then add more baking soda until the desired texture is reached.

You mix about 1/2 a cup of conditioner with 3 cups of baking soda until the mixture is soft and sticks together. Add more baking soda if your snow feels too wet.  I highly recommend keeping this mixture in a rubbermaid or plastic container with a lid (pictured below). 
Maxing the snow is a great for:
  • Following directions. Give your students the directions for making the snow. If they don’t follow the directions they will quickly see this because the snow will not turn out right.
  • Language expansion/descriptive language + auditory comprehension at the same time. Once the snow is made you can have students build a scene and describe it. Some that I love to do is to have a student build a scene in the snow and then take a picture of it. Then, they remove the scene and describe it to another student while the other student attempts to recreate the scene based on the description. This is similar to the process of a barrier game and it’s really been a hit.
  • Sensory bins. This snow is the perfect background or filler for a sensory bin. Hide artic cards or build a scene in the snow.
  • Wh-questions. What does the snow feel like? Look like? Smell like?
There are so many different ways you can use the snow, but my favorite thing about it is how simple it is to make!

 

 

 

About The Author

Jessica Cassity, M.S., CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist in Maryland. She is the founder of The Speech Space, which specializes in creating no print materials for busy SLPs. She also blogs and hosts a podcast, both of which can be found on The Digital SLP. In her spare time she enjoys yoga, cooking, the outdoors, and spending time with her children.