The first of these two awesome projects is not edible, as it uses soap. However the second of these ‘ice crystal’ experiments is edible, yummy! Both projects require adult help as they deal with boiling water. If you are planning on doing both projects, we strongly suggest labeling the jars clearly as to which one is edible and which on is not.
1st Project – Borax Ice Crystal Snowflakes!
You will need:
Borax soap (found in laundry section of grocery stores)
Boiling water
Pipe Cleaners
Food coloring (optional)
Wide mouth jar
A pencil
A piece of string
Borax soap (found in laundry section of grocery stores)
Boiling water
Pipe Cleaners
Food coloring (optional)
Wide mouth jar
A pencil
A piece of string
Instructions: Make the snowflake shape. Cut a pipe cleaner into three equal sections. Twist the sections together at their centers to form a six-sided snowflake shape. The snowflake will need to fit inside the jar.
Tie the string to the end of one of the snowflake arms. Tie the other end of the string to the pencil. You want the length to be such that the pencil hangs the snowflake into the jar.
Fill the wide mouth jar with boiling water.
Add borax one tablespoon at a time to the boiling water, stirring to dissolve after each addition. (The amount used is 3 tablespoons borax per cup of water.)
You can tint the mixture with food color.
Hang the pipe cleaner snowflake into the jar so that the pencil rests on top of the jar and the snowflake is completely covered with liquid and hangs freely (not touching the bottom of the jar).
Allow the jar to sit overnight, do not lift or move the snowflake during this time.
Approx. 24 hours you will see spectacular crystals!
Ice Crystal Project #2 – The Edible one!
You Will Need:1 1/2 cups of white sugar (possibly more)
3/4 cup of water
Small saucepan
Tall glass or jar
Piece of clean cotton string or thread
A pencil
Instructions:
Pour the water into the saucepan and bring to a boil.
Pour the sugar into the water and stir until no more of the sugar will dissolve (you will still be able to see little grains of sugar floating around at the bottom of the pan). If all of the sugar dissolves at first, add a little more until you can't get any more to dissolve when you stir it.
Keep cooking the liquid and stirring it until it is clear, but not for more than 5 minutes, or it will get too hot and turn into hard candy!
Turn off the stove when it starts to look clear.
Pour the sugar water into the glass or jar, but go slowly to make sure that none of the undissolved sugar from the bottom of the pan goes into the glass. Fill the glass about 2/3 full. (You might have enough for two glasses.) Add food coloring if desired.
Dip the string into the solution so that half of the string is coated. Take the string out and let it dry. It doesn’t take long
Once the string has dried, tie the clean end around a pencil and put the dipped end back into the glass of sugar water solution, balancing the pencil across the rim of the glass. Make sure the string does not touch the bottom or the sides of the glass, or your crystals will not form right!
Carefully move your glass to a place where it won’t be touched. Check it each day to watch the crystals grow. Within a few days, you should start to see a few crystals growing on the string. In approx. one week, you will probably have a lot of crystals on your string.
When your piece of ice candy is as big as you want it to be, take it out of the glass and hang it in a clean glass to dry. Then you can take the pencil off, cut the extra string off, and enjoy eating your sugar crystals off the string!
3/4 cup of water
Small saucepan
Tall glass or jar
Piece of clean cotton string or thread
A pencil
Instructions:
Pour the water into the saucepan and bring to a boil.
Pour the sugar into the water and stir until no more of the sugar will dissolve (you will still be able to see little grains of sugar floating around at the bottom of the pan). If all of the sugar dissolves at first, add a little more until you can't get any more to dissolve when you stir it.
Keep cooking the liquid and stirring it until it is clear, but not for more than 5 minutes, or it will get too hot and turn into hard candy!
Turn off the stove when it starts to look clear.
Pour the sugar water into the glass or jar, but go slowly to make sure that none of the undissolved sugar from the bottom of the pan goes into the glass. Fill the glass about 2/3 full. (You might have enough for two glasses.) Add food coloring if desired.
Dip the string into the solution so that half of the string is coated. Take the string out and let it dry. It doesn’t take long
Once the string has dried, tie the clean end around a pencil and put the dipped end back into the glass of sugar water solution, balancing the pencil across the rim of the glass. Make sure the string does not touch the bottom or the sides of the glass, or your crystals will not form right!
Carefully move your glass to a place where it won’t be touched. Check it each day to watch the crystals grow. Within a few days, you should start to see a few crystals growing on the string. In approx. one week, you will probably have a lot of crystals on your string.
When your piece of ice candy is as big as you want it to be, take it out of the glass and hang it in a clean glass to dry. Then you can take the pencil off, cut the extra string off, and enjoy eating your sugar crystals off the string!
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