How to Grow Salt Crystals Using borax
Materials
- Borax
- Hot water
- Pipe Cleaners
- Glass jars/containers
- Fluorescent
paint
- A blacklight
Method
- Begin by bringing a large pot of water to a boil.
- Then, fill the containers you are using 3/4 of the way with the boiling water.
- Add 1 teaspoon of glowing paint to each container along with 2-3 tablespoons of borax.
- Stir until the ingredients are combined and the borax is dissolved.
- Momentarily set these to the side.
Making Shape Crystals
- Have kids use their hands to form shapes out of pipe cleaners.
- Once the shapes are formed tie them from a pencil with string.
- Then, place the shapes into the water ensuring that they do not touch the bottom or sides of the container.
Growing Glowing Salt Crystals
- Have kids observe the jars over the next day, recording any noticeable changes.
- After just a few hours you will begin to notice changes taking place inside of the jars, and by the next day you will be well on your way to an entire crystal galaxy!
- After 24-48 hours you will want to remove the glowing crystals from the water.
- Place them on paper towels to dry.
- They can then be used as sun catchers, key-chains, hair clips, and more!
Extend the Fun
- Grow your own name crystals.
- Grow crystal landscapes.
- Grow a crystal rainbow.
- Grow a crystallized Christmas tree!
- Grow candy crystals.
- Grow borax crystal flowers.
A Few Tips:
- For the best effect you will want to use a blacklight for this activity. You can use a blacklight fixture or these super cool flashlights! My girls love using both.
- Borax can be hard to find in stores. We buy ours in bulk on Amazon here.
- The glowing paint that we use in our activities can be purchased online here.
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