Were you dreaming of a white Christmas? Fed up of your little ones constantly asking when it’s going to snow? Need an activity that’s snow much fun that it will distract them while you eat what’s left of the festive goodies? Loving how many times I have mentioned snow in this paragraph? It’s Snow problem, you’re welcome!!
Zimpli Kids Snoball Play
If you’ve not heard of Zimpli Kids, they are a company that create exciting and unique kids sensory and messy play materials that are borax free (borax has had a bit of bad press recently) and easy to clean up (hurrah!!). All products are 100% safe on the skin, manufactured in the UK, completely non-toxic and environmentally friendly.
Just So You Know
We were kindly gifted the products used in this activity in exchange for this review, but all opinions are my own and that of my two over excited boys. We’ll be working with Zimpli Kids again over the coming weeks for more sensory play activities, so watch this space!
Credit: Zimpli Kids ™
The Details
Each packet of Snoball Play contains two sachets of powder that together make around 30 snowballs (we only used one so have another day of fun ahead). By simply mixing 1.4 litres of water per 25g sachet, and stirring with your hands the mixture transforms into very realistic snow. We used really cold water which made the process slightly longer but added to the realistic coldness of the snow. Snoball Play is recommended for ages 3+ but James (22 months) was able to join in easily under my supervision.
Our Snow Day
It was the Christmas holidays so naturally Christmas jumpers and novelty hats were mandatory.
In order to keep mess to the minimum (if you know my boys in real life, then I realise you’re laughing right now) we set up at the kitchen table. After a bit of squabbling over who had the best bowl (yes, really) we were good to go. I’d already measured out the water into a jug, and split the sachet between the two bowls.
TIP: Use big bowls as the mixture expands A LOT as it starts to turn into snow.
The mixture was quite runny and clear at first.
Then it started to thicken up and with more mixing/stirring and squidging between fingers it turned white and started to ‘fluff’ up.
Both boys really enjoyed the mixing process as it was a chance to play and get their hands messy. There was lots of holding up of hands to show me how the mixture was developing.
Before we started to make our snow I had asked the boys what they wanted to do, I had ideas around making a snow scene or building little snowmen, igloos and the like…basically anything to avoid having a snowball fight inside the house. But, being boys of little regard for domestic cleanliness the unanimous vote was for a snowball fight because Stanley had seen the picture on the box (rooky error on my behalf).
Stanley with his snow
However, I’m smarter than I look and after explaining that the snow wouldn’t melt (they actually thought we’d made real snow) I put all the snow into a plastic bowl and off we went to the park…yep, I’m a genius!!
To make the snow balls we simply formed them with our hands like you would with real snow and the texture and feel was very realistic except there were no wet gloves or freezing cold fingers!
Let Battle Commence
This is where my photography skills went downhill rapidly. It’s actually quite difficult to take a decent photo while under siege!
The solitary ‘posed’ photo
James was uncooperative on the photo front, preferring to run around throwing snow at everything instead.
Stanley was slightly more helpful as in he faced the camera but that was only because he was throwing it at ME.
Anyway, I soon gave up trying to take a decent shot and got both of them with a couple of swift hits to get my own back.
Snowball action shot…this one got him right on the head!
From one sachet of Snoball Play we had just over an hours fun, split between the making of the snow and the snowball fight itself. We left the snow on the ground safe in the knowledge it was completely non toxic and would break down naturally when it rained.
In Summary
We had a great time using this product, it was fun and easy to make and required little to no clean up, just the washing of hands and bowls. It was super realistic, and got us outside for a bit of fresh air and a run around which is always a hit with my boys as they love being outdoors.
The product is recommended for ages 3 and above, Stanley (4 years) could easily have made the snow by himself. However, I think that it would be also be enjoyed from 18 months upwards if younger children are supervised by an adult.
WE REALLY DID HAVE SNOW MUCH FUN!!
Other products in the range:
Snoball Battle Pack-60 Snoball Pack
Find Zimpli Kids on social media:
All images are my own unless otherwise credited.
This post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click those links and register or make a purchase I might receive a commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!
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