Hobbies And Interests
Crystal Snowflake
Fill a jar with boiling water. Add 1 tablespoon of borax at a time, adding 1 tablespoon for each cup of water. Stir until it reaches consistency. Construct a star-shaped ornament (meant to be your snowflake) out of pipe cleaners and place it inside the jar. Tie a string on one end of it so you can pull it out of the jar after it sits overnight. You will notice a crystal substance caked over your ornament.
Eggshell Geodes
Natural geodes in rocks form in a similar way as borax crystals do in this experiment, which will replicate how geodes are formed. Crack several eggshells and clean them with hot water, making sure to take out the membrane. Pour a cup of boiling water into a mug or heat-safe container. Add 1/2 cup of borax and stir until it is dissolved. Pour into the eggs and let it sit until it crystalizes.
Bouncy Ball
Pour 4 ounces of warm water and 1 teaspoon of borax in a cup and stir until the borax is dissolved. Pour 1 tablespoon of white glue (and a couple drops of optional food coloring). Add the borax solution to the white glue as well as 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Let sit for about 15 minutes, then stir to the point of solidity. Mold into a ball with your hands. Adjust the amounts of borax, glue and cornstarch and compare the bounciness of each.
Plastic
Use 1 teaspoon of borax with 1 tablespoon of white glue and food coloring. Mix the borax and 5 tablespoons of water in a cup until it dissolves, stirring frequently to quicken the process. Put in 2 drops of food coloring. In another, separate cup, mix the white glue with 1 tablespoon of water, mixing to consistency. Also add food coloring, if desired. Pour the borax mixture into this second cup and stir until the substance stiffens in a lump, which you knead in your hands for a couple minutes until it reaches solidity.