Experiment

1. Start by finding pictures of animal tracks on-line or in books.  Some fun ideas are reindeer, moose… even elves.  You can even trace a boot to make a Santa Claus footprint.
2. Trace all of the footprints on separate pieces of cardboard, making sure to keep both the “inside” and “outside” portions of the footprint.
3. If you don’t want to use a footprint cut-out, you can use your own boots or shoes and follow Step 7 to make an outline of your footprint!
4. Mix up a batch of Insta-Snow.  The mixing proportions are best if you start with small batches and make more from there.  Try putting 1 teaspoon of Insta-Snow in a cup and adding about 60 mL (2 oz) of water.
5. In just seconds your mixture will erupt into a fluffy mound of fake snow!
6. Lay the “inside” portion of the footprint on the floor (in a place where people won’t be walking and that is not water-sensitive).
7. Sprinkle the snow around the footprint template, being careful to keep a clean edge around the template for the most recognizable footprint.
8. Remove the template and… voila!  It’s a footprint in the snow!
9. Repeat steps 5-7, turning the template over each time to create left and right feet, as many times as desired.
10. You can also use the “outside” portion of the footprint template to create the look of footprints made out of snow.

How Does It Work?

Insta-Snow, the original Instant Snow, is an amazing superabsorbent polymer that turns ordinary water into a fluffy substance that looks like real snow. This faux snow is so realistic that it is now being used on movie sets and in indoor snowboarding parks.

The mixologists at Steve Spangler Science coined the name Insta-Snow, the Original Instant Snow. This fake snow is in a classification of chemicals called polymers. The word polymer simply means long chain of molecules (“poly” means many and “mer” is a unit or molecule). Insta-Snow soaks up water using the process of osmosis (water molecules pass through a barrier from one side to the other). When water comes in contact with the polymer, it moves from outside the polymer to the inside and causes it to swell. The polymer chains have an elastic quality, but they can stretch only so far and hold just so much water.

Additional Info

Read a classic story like The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats before making your snow footprints.  The story and the footprints make a wonderful science and literature connection that your students or children won’t forget!

Insta-Snow is available for sale from Steve Spangler Science.