Have you ever wanted to bring the magic of a winter wonderland indoors? Or maybe you’re looking for a fun and educational activity for your kids. We’ve got the solution for you—learn how to make snow with salt! This experiment is perfect for all ages and can be done right in your home.

This is one of the easiest weather experiments for kids that you can try. With just a few simple ingredients and some imagination, you’ll be amazed at how easily you can create it in any weather. Let the winter magic begin!

Depending on where you live, winter can come with a lot of soft, white fluff covering everything. But that frosty magic only happens when it’s freezing outside. So, what do you do if you live somewhere it never shows up? Or if it’s a hot season and you’re dreaming of a chilly, cozy day?

Here’s the thing – what if you could bring that winter wonderland feeling into your home, no matter what the weather is like outside? With this experiment, you can create your own snow using just salt and one other ingredient. It’s so easy and fun to do!

The best part? This experiment isn’t just fun—it’s a great learning experience, too! Kids get to see how temperature changes affect snow formation and can dive into the idea of saturation from mixing salt and water.

This is also a great opportunity for parents to bond with their children while learning together! You get to have fun and spend quality time with your family, and to top it all off, you’ll have a beautiful snowy scene to admire afterward!

Table of Contents

Supplies Used To Make Snow With Salt

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Salt
Water
Mixing Bowl
Large Baking Sheet (Optional for playing with snow afterward)

Pour Salt Into A Bowl

The first step is to grab a mixing bowl and pour in about 15 ounces of salt. You can use any type, but for our experiment, we used iodized. You can get creative and use different types, like kosher or sea salt, to see how they affect the outcome.

Now, don’t worry too much about measuring precisely. Feel free to eyeball the amount you pour into the bowl. If you want to make a larger or smaller batch, just adjust the amount accordingly.

As you pour it in, take a moment to observe its texture. Notice how it’s made up of tiny crystals that sparkle under the light. These crystals will play an important role in creating your frosty masterpiece.

When you’re doing this experiment with your kids, you can also take this opportunity to talk about the properties of this ingredient and how it’s used in our daily lives. You can have a mini science lesson on it—its characteristics, cool facts, and where we use it!

When you’re done with that, it’s time for the next step in creating your own winter wonderland!

Add Water To Salt

Before anything else, it’s important to note that you should use very cold water. It will help the salt dissolve much slower as opposed to using room temperature water or hot water. Just like real snowflakes form in cold temperatures, your salt snow will also form best with cold water.

An added benefit of using cold water is that it will make the salt feel surprisingly close to the temperature of real snow. Your kids are definitely going to love that cool, icy sensation.

When adding the water, make sure to start small—a little goes a long way! You may only need to add 1-2 teaspoons at first and then gradually add more until you reach the desired consistency. Remember, you can always add more if needed, but it’s more difficult to reverse it if you add too much. You don’t want to end up with a puddle instead.

Play around with the amount you add and observe how it affects the final texture and appearance. You can also have your kids help with this step and let them take turns adding water. Turn this into an opportunity to teach them about measurements and ratios while having fun!

Stir The Mixture

Grab a fork and start mixing the two ingredients. As you stir, you’ll notice the salt crystals breaking down and mixing with the water. This will create a consistency quite similar to the real frosty thing.

Keep stirring until you reach your desired texture. You can make it as fluffy or dense as you like by adjusting the amount of water added. Just take it slow, pour a little at a time, and keep mixing until you are satisfied with the result.

Once that’s all done, you should now have a pile of damp salt that is ready to be molded into snow! You can use your hands or different utensils to shape and create different structures. This is the part that having a large baking sheet might come in handy for having more space to play with the snow.

Let your imagination run wild and build snowmen, igloos, or even a mini ski slope! Check out this post for more ways how to make instant snow at home! You can also make snow with baking soda! Here’s this how to make snow with baking soda experiment that you can easily follow.

What Is The Texture of Snow Made With Salt?

Well, it depends on the amount of water you add. If you use very little, the mixture creates a powdery texture that looks the most realistic. In a similar way in the weather world, snow that forms in drier, colder air also tends to be more light, powdery and fluffy (the stuff skiers love)!

This is great for decorating purposes or if you want to create a snow-like effect in your home. Here’s our comparison between Amazing Super Snow powder VS homemade snow to find out which is more realistic.

On the other hand, if you add more water, the texture becomes more wet and dense. This can be useful for forming shapes or structures. When we tried this out during our experiment, we were able to make a snowball and even a snowman after!

This wet and more dense form of salt snow can be compared to the wet and slushy snow that often falls during a storm when there is a lot of moisture in the air, along with slightly warmer temperatures. This type of snow is perfect for making snowballs and snowmen!

snowman made after adding more water to frosty mixture

You do want to be careful if you have any cuts or cracks on your hands, as the salt may sting. Trust me, I had to learn it the hard way, and it was not fun! So before diving into this little experiment, make sure to take care of any cuts or wear gloves to avoid any discomfort.

How Well Does Snow Made With Salt Clean Up?

Well, the good news is that it’s not a messy experiment at all! Since the salt dissolves in water, all you need to do is wipe any spills with a wet rag and rinse out the mixing bowl with water. No need to worry about any lingering mess or sticky residue.

One tip for an even easier cleanup is to lay down a plastic tablecloth or tarp before starting your experiment. This will catch any stray drops of water or spilled salt, making it easy to just gather everything up and toss it in the trash when you’re done.

How Long Does Fake Snow Last?

The cool thing about this stuff is that you can reuse your homemade frosty mix by letting it dry out and then storing it in an airtight container for future play. Just add some water to rehydrate it again. This way, you can have endless winter fun without having to constantly make new batches.

So basically, if you take proper care of your newly created snow, it can last forever! The process of letting the snow mixture dry out, and then adding water to it again can also serve as a great lesson on the process of evaporation and saturation as well.