The Snowy Day Snow Dough Recipe and Sensory Bin

Inspired by Ezra Jack Keats’ beloved classic, The Snowy Day, this easy snow dough recipe and sensory bin brings the magic of winter indoors for hours of hands-on play! Just like Peter exploring the snowy streets of his neighborhood, kids can dig, scoop, mold, and build with this soft, moldable “snow” that feels just like the real thing, minus the cold hands!

This simple sensory activity is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers, offering a wonderful way to build fine motor skills, encourage imaginative play, and extend the story’s themes of wonder and exploration.

With just a few simple ingredients you probably already have at home, you can whip up this fun winter sensory bin in minutes and keep little ones engaged and entertained all season long!

Snow Dough Recipe Sensory Play with The Snowy Day

A Snowy Day Book Activities, Animal Track activities for preschoolers, FIAR, BFIAR, Make The Snowy Day snow dough & sensory bin with this easy recipe! Plus fun winter activities for toddlers and preschoolers

The Snowy Day Snow Dough Recipe and Sensory Bin

Whether you live in a place where it snows a lot or you live in a place that never gets snow, Snow Dough is awesome! So many kids love sensory play, animals, and classic books so I decided to put them all together with a fun-filled day of hands-on activities and learning. Have you made snow dough yet?

Fun Preschool Activities for The Snowy Day

Here are some fun, hands-on activities to pair with Ezra Jack Keats’ classic winter story:

1. Snow Dough Sensory Bin
Make this simple snow dough for kids to mold, scoop, and explore, just like Peter playing in the snow.

2. Footprint Painting
Recreate Peter’s adventure by dipping small toy boots or doll shoes in white paint and stamping “footprints” across blue construction paper to mimic snow tracks.

3. Snowball Pom-Pom Toss
Use white pom-poms as “snowballs” for a counting and gross motor game—toss them into buckets or baskets.

4. Melting Snowball Science
Fill a cup with snow (or ice) and let kids observe what happens when it melts, just like Peter’s snowball in his pocket. Great for discussing cause and effect.

5. Collage Art Like Ezra Jack Keats
Keats used cut-paper collage in his illustrations—let kids create their own winter scenes using torn or cut paper shapes to represent snow, trees, and Peter’s red snowsuit.

6. Snow Angel Yoga Pose
Act out the story by having kids lie down and make “snow angels” with their arms and legs, encouraging gross motor movement and imaginative play.

7. Sequencing Story Cards
Create simple picture cards of events from the story (Peter waking up, walking in snow, making a snowball, going inside) and have children put them in order.

8. Sensory Walk Talk
Discuss the different textures Peter experiences in the snow—crunchy, smooth, soft—and relate it to sensory bins or nature walks outside (if weather allows).

9. Red Snowsuit Craft
Have kids color or decorate a cutout of a red snowsuit like Peter’s, reinforcing color recognition and fine motor skills.

10. Snowball Counting Game
Use cotton balls or pom-poms to practice counting, sorting by size, or simple math concepts like more/less.

These activities help bring the story to life while building early literacy, science exploration, and fine motor skills, all while celebrating the joy and wonder of a snowy day!

Homemade Snow Dough

Easy Snow Dough Recipe

This recipe gives you enough snow dough for 2-3 children. Approx. 10 cups of snow. Not Edible!

12 oz. of conditioner (I used a whole small bottle of Alberto VO5 found at Walmart for $0.70

3 16oz. boxes of Baking Soda

Optional: Glitter and Essential oils

We used white glitter and 2 drops of Evergreen Essence Essential oil from Young Living

Freeze for 2 hours (optional) The freezing is just to make it colder, it turns out just like snow either way.

Have fun!

Homemade Snow Dough, A Snowy Day Book Activities, Animal Track Matching, FIAR, Toddler, Preschool, Sensory Play www.naturalbeachliving.com

The Snowy Day Activities

Checking out all of the different animal feet/tracks from these awesome Schleich animals. The children love how realistic these animals look.

We also enjoyed learning about different animals and their tracks. You can get this cool set of animal cards too.

Children love to look at animals and see how different they all are. A great book for this is Crinkleroot’s Guide to Walking in Wild Places and Crinkleroot’s Guide to Animal Tracking. These are a few of our all-time favorite animal books.

We started this activity as part of our FIAR row for The Snowy Day.