Snowball Fights – California Style!
Plus Other Fun Activities – Free Printables
Living at the beach in Southern California, we don’t see much snow. In fact, I’ve seen it at home a total of twice in my lifetime. On both of those occasions, the snow melted as soon as it hit the ground. The occasional hail storm is as close to snow on the ground as we get. And let’s face it, hail would hurt! So, to have the fun of snowball fights, we have to get a little creative…
I have a couple of options for you.
The first involves PVC sprinkler pipe, a few fittings, and mini marshmallows. All you need for the second idea is Playdough. I guarantee the laughs will ensue!
California Snowball Shooters:
Every year on the last day of school before Christmas vacation, the teachers and staff would gather in the courtyard and sing Christmas carols as the students and parents arrived to school. It was always a wonderful tradition. One year, at the end of the singing, the entire staff whipped out these little beauties…
The next thing we knew, us parents and students were under attack. It was a California Snowball Fight. Mini marshmallows were flying everywhere. Kids were picking them up and throwing them back at the teachers. It was wild, it was crazy, and it was a TON of fun.
I thought about what a simple idea this California Snowball Shooter was, and decided to make some for my family. We have had so much fun with these mini marshmallow snowball fights. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of all the fun we’ve had each year with these, because I was too busy being involved in the melee.
Here’s what it takes to make your own California Snowball Shooter:
- 3 lengths PVC tube / pipe – 1/2 inch diameter is fine
- 1 T-fitting
- 2 Open Couplers
- 1 Cap
- A Hacksaw or something to cut the pipe.
- Mini Marshmallows
As you can see in the above picture, you can make your shooters different sizes, but the construction is the same. Cut your three pieces of PVC pipe (one for the handle, the other two for the shooter). Connect the three pieces to the T-fitting. Place the cap on the bottom of the handle, and the two open couplers one on each end of the shooter.
All that is left is to stuff a mini marshmallow into one end of the shooter and blow from the other end… let the snowball fights begin…
If you are giving these as a gift, add a little tag like this:
“California Snowball Shooter: Stuff a mini marshmallow into the tube and blow!”
Playdough Snowball Fights:
Sometimes it’s tough to be a kid in the hospital… and sometimes it’s not. If you have read my About Lorelai page, you know that Rory has been hospitalized throughout her entire life, a lot. Thank goodness for an excellent hospital, doctors, and nurses, but in this case the true heroes were her Child Life Specialists. The job of these amazing people is to help the children cope with their illness, hospitalizations, and situations. We had several Playdough Snowball Fights over the years, sometimes indoors, and others outside. Oh, my, gosh did they all have FUN! Take a look…
All you need for this game is Playdough!
Rory, Bonnie, and Stephanie rolled the Playdough into smallish balls so they would have lots of ammunition. The IV pole made a great snowball holder. We tried to clean everything up, but when I would take Rory out to the garden for a walk, we would catch a glimpse of color peeking out from somewhere. The memories made us giggle. Years later the Playdough Snowball Fights are still being talked about as one of the greatest events ever!
The best thing about BOTH of these Snowball Fights is since they do not require snow, you can have them all year round!
Other Fun Stuff:
I have gathered a collection of FREE printable Christmas activities that can be fun for the entire family. Roll the dice and draw a snowman. Find your way through a Christmas maze. Unscramble Christmas words. And have some fun with Christmas songs.
Roll-A-Snowman
Roll-A-Snowman Word File / PDF File
Christmas Tree Lights Maze
Christmas Tree Lights Maze Word File / PDF File
Christmas Word Scramble
Christmas Word Scramble Word File / PDF File
4 different Christmas Song Games / Quizzes
Christmas Song Games and Quizzes Word File / PDF File
Printables found at: Mrs. Albanese’s Class, Kidspot, Bowtie Products, About Home – Family Crafts
I hope you and your family will enjoy the California Snowball Shooters, Playdough Snowball Fights, and the FREE Printable Games.
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Have you ever heard of a California Snowball Shooter?
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Ever had Playdough Snowball Fights?
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Leave me a comment… I’d love to hear from you!
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~Lorelai
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Leave me a comment… I’d love to hear from you!
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~Lorelai
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Contact Lorelai at Lorelai@LifeWithLorelai.com
