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How to Make Rainbow Crystals in Water

Crystal formation is a naturally occurring and fascinating process that children will love to see in action. You can demonstrate how crystals form by carrying out an experiment that extracts and crystallizes minerals from a solution. You can even make this crystal-growing experiment more exciting by turning the crystals into a rainbow spectrum of colors. Everything needed to create a crystal-growing experiment can be found around your kitchen.

Things You'll Need

Water
Pot
Salt
Spoon
5 baby food jars
Food coloring (5 colors)
Twine
Scissors
Pencil
Glass tumbler
Making tape

Instructions

- 1
  Pour 2 cups of water into a pot and heat the water until it boils.
- 2
  Pour 3 cups of salt into the water, stirring it thoroughly. Pour the salt solution evenly into five baby food jars.
- 3
  Add five drops of food coloring to each jar. Use a different color for each jar. Mix the solutions thoroughly.
- 4
  Tie five pieces of twine, each around 7 inches long, onto a pencil. Space the pieces of twine out evenly on the pencil. Turn a glass tumbler upside down and then place the pencil horizontally on the tumbler. Tape the pencil to the tumbler with masking tape.
- 5
  Arrange the baby food jars evenly around the glass tumbler. Place each end of twine into a baby food jar, one piece for each jar. Leave the jars and twine alone for at least one week. The colorful crystals will grow up the pieces of twine.

Rocks & Minerals