Grow Your Own Snowflakes
Grow your own snowflakes in a jar. Adult supervision is required, as you need boiling
water. After you have made snow flakes you can experiment with other shapes,
too.
Materials:
- large wide-mouthed jar
- pipe cleaners
- pencil
- yarn or string
- boiling water
- borax ~ found in the laundry section of the supermarket
- food coloring (optional)
For the most realistic results use white pipe cleaners and yarn and no food
coloring. For variety use different colors.
Instructions:
- Cut the pipe cleaner into 3 equal parts.
- Twist
them together in the center and fan out the ends so you have six evenly spaced
spokes. - Attach some yarn to the end of one of the spokes and pass it across each
spoke in turn, twisting it around the spokes as you go. - Measure the amount of water your jar holds, using cups.
- Empty the jar out and refill it using boiling water.
- Using 3 tablespoons of borax per cup of water, mix the borax into the
water, a little at a time. You need to stir quite vigorously to get it to
dissolve. There may be a little that doesn’t dissolve. - Attach a piece of yarn to the top of your snowflake-shaped pipe cleaners,
and lower it into the jar. Tie it off round a pencil, resting across the mouth
of the jar, so that the snowflake is completely submerged in the solution, but
not resting on the bottom.
Leave the entire thing for 24 hours. When the 24 hours are up, remove
your snowflake and you will find it has shiny crystals all over it. You can hang
it up in a window or door way, or even use it as a decoration on a Christmas
tree.
You can make them in various colors by adding a few drops of food
coloring to the borax solution, or by using colored yarn and pipe cleaners. Try
making them in different colors and using them to make a mobile.