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How to Form a Crystal in a Jar

Share an interesting science experiment with your kids and help them form a crystal in a jar. Aside from the learning experience, you can use the crystals you create as decorative holiday ornaments or embellishments for your wrapped packages. The secret to forming a crystal in a jar is to use the right materials and to not let the materials touch the sides or the bottom of the glass. Try this simple experiment at home and watch your kid's eyes light up when they see colorful crystals appear overnight.

Things You'll Need

Pipe cleaners
Wide mouth jar
Pencil
String
20 Mule Team Borax
Water
Measuring cup
Tablespoon
Food coloring

Instructions

- 1
  Shape pipe cleaners into any kind of form that you like. Join three together to make a star, or shape one into a small heart. Crystals will form around the shape that you make, so get creative. You design must fit inside of the jar without touching any part of the jar.
- 2
  Tie the pipe cleaner design to the center of a pencil with a section of string. The pipe cleaner shape should dangle freely when you hang it inside the jar.
- 3
  Fill the jar to within an inch of the top with water, and then measure how many cups it held. Boil the water that you removed from the jar.
- 4
  Fill the jar again with the boiled water carefully. Dissolve three tablespoons of borax for every cup of water that is in the jar. You need a highly concentrated solution to form the crystals, so if you have any borax sediment left at the bottom of the jar after stirring, that's a good thing. Use only the product called "20 Mule Team Borax" as other products containing borax may not work.
- 5
  Stir in several drops of food coloring, if you'd like to make colored crystals.
- 6
  Insert the pipe cleaner into the glass jar so that it hangs freely in the borax solution. Leave the jar undisturbed overnight and the crystals will form on the pipe cleaner.

Rocks & Minerals