Winter is perfect for scienceExperiments with childrenand one of the coolest of them is growing ice crystals. With just a few resources you can make snowflakes with your children and create beautiful crystals on them. The finished crystal snowflakes can be used as winter window decorations. They also glitter beautifully in the sunlight!
Make snowflakes ice crystals with borax
Borax (also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate) is a mineral salt in the borate class and has numerous industrial uses. It is often dissolved in water to form an alkaline, antiseptic solution used as a disinfectant, detergent, and water softener.
Materials required:
- Borax
- Pencil (or wooden stick)
- Pipe cleaners
- Glass jar (wide)
- hot water
- Scissors
- cord
- tablespoon
And this is how it's done:
Step 1.Cut the pipe cleaners and twist them into snowflakes. Note that snowflakes always have six points. The snowflakes also need to be small and narrow enough that they can easily dangle in the jars without touching the sides or bottom.
Step 2.Cut a piece of string and tie one end to the snowflake and the other end to a pencil. The string should be long enough so that the snowflake can be hung in the middle of the glass.
Step 3.(Please refer to the safety instructions below before beginning this step). Fill the jars with boiling water. Add about three to four tablespoons of borax powder to each jar and stir to dissolve. Even if the borax powder settles at the bottom of the jar, that's not a problem.
If you stir borax into very hot water, you can see that the water becomes very cloudy. This is because the borax molecules float in the water. As the water cools to room temperature, the solution becomes very saturated, and the borax separates from the water molecules and sticks to anything it can, including the sides of the glass and the pipe cleaners dangling inside, forming beautiful crystals.
Step 4.Place the pencil across the edge of the glass so that the snowflakes float in the mixture and do not touch the bottom or sides of the glass.
Step5.Leave the jars overnight or 24 hours. The solution will be cloudy at first, but after about an hour it will begin to clear. If you check in the morning you should see formed crystals! The children will be thrilled with their new creations! The crystals will continue to grow over the next few days.
Borax crystals are generally well-shaped and fairly large, although they are not typically found in jewelry or in museums. This is because the crystals do not maintain their structure over a long period of time like other crystals. Because they are a salt, they go through a process called efflorescence. As they dry out, the transparent crystals become cloudy and eventually break down into white powder.
What age is this project suitable for?
Borax is often used in elementary school science experiments and is safe for older children when used responsibly. This simple science project is ideal for elementary age children (i.e. 7 to 9 years old). Younger children (5-6 years old) are also welcome to try it with support. BUT they must understand very well that they should not put borax in their mouth. Please refer to the safety guidelines below when assessing whether this activity is suitable for your child.
Safety instructions
Be careful with boiling water around small children. Place the jars on a table before pouring boiling water - the jar of boiling water in them will quickly become too hot to hold.
Borax (sodium tetraborate) is commonly used as a laundry booster or cleaner. Like any other cleaning product, it should be kept away from children who are not under the direct supervision of an adult. It is not edible and may irritate the eyes. It is also a mild skin irritant for people with sensitive skin. Wearing safety glasses, using spoons and washing your hands afterwards are also recommended measures. Make sure your snowflake ice crystals are kept out of the reach of babies, toddlers or pets.
Make snowflakes with salt crystals
Growing borax crystals requires more adult guidance, but this simple salt crystal science experiment is great for younger children.
Step 1.First you have to make snowflakes out of paper, and it's actually quite easy. It is best to choose blue paper so that the white crystals are clearly visible.
Step 2.Make the brine. Start with hot water. One tablespoon at a time, add salt until the water cannot absorb any more. The hotter the water, the more salt you can add. The goal is to get a saturated solution.
Step 3.Place the paper snowflakes on a tray, plate or bowl and pour in enough salt water to cover the snowflakes. There may even be some salt left in the glass, that's not a problem! Set your tray aside.
Growing salt crystals is all about being patient! The crystals grow over time and it takes a few days. The borax crystals grow faster (24 hours). Salt crystals take a few days.
How do salt crystals form?
Growing these snowflake ice crystals is all about chemistry! What is chemistry? The reaction or change that occurs between two substances such as water and salt.
As the salt solution cools and the water evaporates, the atoms (sodium and chlorine) are no longer separated by water molecules. They begin to combine with each other and form the typical cube-shaped salt crystals.
