Holiday Science

School’s out for the holidays, so lets have some science fun! Anyone want to make some crystals? Follow these steps and you can have a beautiful crystal decoration that would make a great gift, or maybe an ornament for the Christmas tree.

You will need help from an adult for this experiment.

Here's what you'll need:

• Borax powder (NOT Boraxo)
• Pipe Cleaners
• Measuring Cup
• Measuring Spoon
• Pot
• Wide-mouthed jar (pint or quart)
• String
• Scissors
• Food Coloring (optional)

Here’s what you’ll do:

Get creative and use your pipe cleaners to make a shape. It can be a circle, heart, snowflake, or anything you wish. Make sure that the shape isn’t too big, it has to hang inside your jar!

Take the string and tie a few inches of it to one of the pipe cleaners. Cut the string and tie the remaining end to the pencil, make sure it’s enough string so the object can dangle inside the jar.

Measure how many cups of water it would take to fill the jar so that it covers your hanging object, then have your parents or an adult pour that water into a pot to boil. Don’t use a microwave to boil the water!

Have your parents or an adult pour the boiled water into the jar.

Slowly stir in the Borax, 3 tablespoons per cup of water, and if you want, you can add some food coloring too!

Now place your pipe cleaner artwork into the Borax solution, without touching the sides or bottom of the jar, and support it by hanging it from a pencil placed over the mouth of the jar.

The next day you should have a beautiful crystal decoration. Take it out and let it air-dry.