If you’ve ever seen the insta-snow endorsed by Steve Spangler or Be Amazing Toys, you’ll know what this is all about. As far as science kits go, this stuff is pretty cool. They claim that the small polymer-like substance will expand to 100 times their dry size when put in water. I haven’t measured them with a micrometer, but I’d guess that’s a fair guess as to how much they expand. Imagine a small Styrofoam coffee cup, filled about 3/4 full of water. Now imagine putting a very small scoop (about 1/2 a teaspoon) of Insta-Snow powder in this cup. It will actually fill up and start overflowing the cup in just a few seconds. It’s a pretty amazing demonstration.

I saw this on a list of the Top 12 best selling toys of 2008 and can see why. It would make a great demo for science teachers studying polymers or the absorbing properties of water. Plus it’s just cool to watch and play with. This “Blizzard in a Bucket” kit comes with enough fake snow to make hundreds of classroom demos or one big summertime snowball fight.