Borax Crystals

Another fun crystal science experiment! This experiment is very simple and forms nice, sparkly crystals, different than the ones in the crystal garden.

Ingredients:

pipe cleaner

string

pencil

large wide-mouth jar

boiling water

Borax (found by the laundry detergent at your grocery store)

Procedure:

1.  Shape your pipe cleaner (make sure it will fit in the jar).

2.  Tie the string to your creation and attach it to the pencil.

3.  Fill the jar with boiling water.

4.  Add 3 – 4 TB of Borax to each 1 cup of water. (My jar fit about 3 cups so we added about 12 Tablespoons of Borax. It’s fun to experiment with the amount of Borax.) Mix until mostly dissolved. It’s okay if a little bit of Borax is left on the bottom.

5.  Dip your creation into the Borax solution, resting the pencil on the top of the jar.

6.  Let sit for 24 hours. Try not to move the jar much.

7.  After 24 hours, pull the pipe cleaner out. You should have nice crystals. Let your crystals dry for a bit, and then hang in your window.

What are you going to do with that big box of Borax you have left over? Stay tuned, and I’ll share more fun later!

Other questions to ask/experiments to try:

*What would happen if you add food coloring to the water? (That’ll be our next experiment!)

*What happens when you add more Borax? Less?

*What happens if you let it sit more than 24 hours?

*Can you use the solution again?

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