Foaming Dough Recipe: Magic Foaming Snowman (2024)

I have been obsessed with Modern Parent Messy Kids' Indoor Snowman activity since I first laid eyes on it. Since I like to put my own spin on things, I thought I'd experiment a bit and see if I couldn't come up with a dough that would also work for building snowmen. I so enjoyed Learn Play Imagine's Erupting Candy Corn Foam Dough at Halloween that I was inspired to make a dough that would also erupt. About 12 iterations later, I had developed an erupting super foaming dough that I was really excited about. We've played with it a LOT since then. Here's the first of our activities using it!

Here's our cute little snowman.

Uh oh... S has started the melting/foaming reaction. He's lost his nose!

And now his head. It's almost all over for him.

In the place of the snowman, there's now a giant pile of icy cold frothy foam to play in!

This was maybe the fifth snowman she demolished. She had so much fun. It was pretty hilarious to watch her squeal with delight as the foam erupted and bits and pieces of the snowman became no more.

Once he's completely demolished, you have to search like a raccoon with your hands through that icy foam to rescue all his bits and pieces. So you can make yet another snowman, of course.

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To make your own Magic Foaming Snowman, you'll need the following:

Baking Soda

Salt

Vinegar

Waterproof accessories

First let's talk about the accessories. Anything waterproof will work fabulously. We used black brads for his eyes, and then I made a carrot nose out of orange foam (I glued it using hot glue to make a 3D carrot). I also cut pieces to make a little top hat out of black foam and hot glued them together. We grabbed two skinny little twigs from outside and we were ready to make our Foaming Dough!

In a bowl or other container, measure out two cups of baking soda and add 2 Tablespoons of salt. Mix throughly (little hands are very good at this). Add 1 tsp soap and mix it into the dough well. The dough should look crumbly. Next add 8 Tablespoons of water. If your dough will form a ball, you're all set. If it's still too dry and crumbly add water 1 Tablespoon at a time until you have a dough that molds into a ball. It will not feel like playdough - it's more smooshy and crumbly than that. But it should form into and hold a ball.

Make and decorate your snowman and once you're ready to transform him into a mound of icy cold foam, add your vinegar! It works best (i.e. creates the most foam) if you add a lot of vinegar at once. A squeezy bottle works best, but if you don't have one of those, pouring a cup filled with vinegar on him will also create a foamy explosion!

If you'd like to add color to your snowman, you definitely can. Add food coloring or liquid watercolors to the baking soda in the very first step and mix well before following the recipe as usual. We felt like going for a traditional snowman, but colored foaming dough is also a blast!

UPDATE: With the wild success of Disney's movie Frozen, my awesome friend Stephanie pointed out that I should show how easily our Magic Foaming Snowman can become a Magic Foaming Olaf! I used foam sheets as above to make Olaf features and here he is:

All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.