significance of Ben's Paperweight

When Ben is nine-years-old, he goes into the Marsten House and grabs an item to take back outside with him to show the others boys to prove that he was in the house. The item he grabs is a paperweight. It is a snow globe with "a little gingerbread house with a path leading up to it" inside. When he shakes the globe, it looks like it is snowing inside. After Ben and Mark destroy Barlow, Ben goes back to his room at the boardinghouse the next day. He sees the snow globe, throws it and breaks it. The snow globe symbolizes his connection to the Marsten House.