Snow Dough World

What you need

• two mugs of cornflour and a few spoons of sunflower oil
• a big tray
• small toy animals, like penguins or polar bears, or any small toy animals you have
• a cup for moulding

How to do it

1. Tip the cornflour onto the tray and let your child rub the oil in with their fingers until it holds together when squeezed, like soft snow.
2. Press and pile it into hills, a cave and a flat icy plain for the animals.
3. Pack the cup tight with snow, turn it upside down and lift it off to make a snow house, then make a few more.
4. Bring the animals out and let your child tell you what happens in the snowy land: who lives where, who gets lost, who finds them.

Why it matters

The dough squeaks, packs and crumbles like real snow. Shaped into hills and a cave, it becomes a little world for the animals' story.

What they're learning

Squeeze and crumble

Feeling the dough pack together and fall apart.

Small world story

Every animal has a part to play.

Building with snow

Pressing the cup full so the house holds its shape.

What to look for

Notice them giving the animals voices and moving them about as they talk.

A tip

This dough isn't for eating, and it gets everywhere, so lay an old sheet underneath and sweep up the dry crumbs at the end.

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