Four children set their mums on a three-and-a-half hour cleaning spree after unleashing the mini polystyrene balls from three huge bean bags, turning their home into a winter wonderland.
Natalie Standen, 38, and her friend Andreia Gomes had been having a catch up at her home while their children enjoyed a playdate upstairs that got messy fast.
Natalie later came upstairs to find her sons Harvey, five, and Alex, seven, and daughter Ava, three, and Andreia's daughter Leah Zara, six, playing in the heaps of bean bag balls.
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Capturing the moment, Natalie took a hilarious picture of the four children giggling while scooping handfuls of the polystyrene balls into their hands and throwing them into the air, declaring 'it's snowing' to the stunned parents.
When confronted about the mess, all of the children pointed the finger of blame at Harvey who was 'very impressed' with himself.
Natalie, from Jersey, Channel Islands, said: "It was our first after-school playdate in the new house. Andreia and I were downstairs having a cup of tea and a chat and catching up.
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"My eldest son, Jake came running down the stairs to say there was some carnage upstairs, but that we shouldn't go up there.
"Andreia and I glanced across the room at each other and decided we'd better go up and have a little look.
"As we walked up the stairs we could hear lots of laughter and screaming, and as we hit the top floor the landing was covered in 'snow.'"
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After coming across the so-called 'carnage', Natalie and Andreia both looked at each other in shock.
Natalie said: "It took maybe 20 minutes between leaving them in the room to play and coming back to that.
"They made quick work of it and we had no clue - they can move quickly when they want to."
After discovering the winter wonderland scene, Natalie and Andreia scrambled to gather as many of the polystyrene balls up as possible, which took a sickening three-and-a-half hours.
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Natalie said: "We just thought 'where do you even start?' There was no way the hoover was going to manage that.
"We grabbed an empty bean bag each, sat down and started putting handfuls back into them while the children were throwing it all over us and themselves."
"It took us three-and-a-half hours, and we're still finding it now. It's going to be there for the next few years I'm sure."
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Even after undertaking the marathon clean-up session, Natalie maintains that having the opportunity to play and 'make a mess' is something children should be allowed to enjoy.
Natalie said: "With school and homework and the pressure on them these days, there's a precious amount of time for them to play like this."
Ali Condon