How to Make Crystal Snowflakes with Borax
Making cyrstal snowflakes with Borax is an activity that will not disappoint! It's super easy to to, is a good chemistry lesson, and ads a bit of art to a science lesson.
Equipment
- Box of borax 3 tablespoons per 1 cup of boiling water (adults should handle the boiling water)
- Boiling water Adults should handle this
- liquid measuring cup
- measuring spoon
- pack of chenille sticks for snowflakes, white works best
- sciessors
- pencil for every snowflake
- jars or other contiainer Make sure your design will fit through the mouth of the container once crystals have formed.
Instructions
- Gather all materials and boil the water.
- Make your snowflake shapes out of the chenillesticks. You’ll want to ensure your designs will fit through the mouth of thejar once the crystals grow.
- Measure the amount of yarn to cut. You want to be able to tie it to the pencil. The chenille sticks should not touch the bottom or sides of the jar.
- Make the Borax and water mixture by combining 3 tablespoons of Borax for every cup of water. You will need at least 2 cups of water if doing one design. (We made 4 cups and used them for a small and a large Mason jar.) The Borax will not dissolve in the water; you will see it precipitate out of the water.
- Wrap the yarn around the pencil and place the snowflake into the mixture. It should not touch the bottom.
- Give the mixture a gentle stir.
- Let sit undisturbed for 18-24 hours. Check it every few hours to see how fast the crystals are growing.
