Science Experiment: Borax Crystal Hearts

This is fun experiment with very cool results.  Our inspiration was from The Scientific Mom.  She created Borax Crystal Ornaments as part of her 12 Days of Science Series with her daughter.  Be sure to check out her blog here to find out about all the amazing excursions and experiments that she does with her daughter.  We decided to make borax crystal hearts for Valentine's day and a few snowflakes for Winter.  Keep reading to find out how we made these.

To make Borax Crystal Hearts You'll Need:

Pipe Cleaners

20 Mule Team Borax (found in the laundry section  of the grocery store) (5-6 Tablespoons or more)
***Borax is not-edible and should be handled with care when using with children)

Water (2 Cups or so)

Jar or Glass Container

Pencil or stick

The first step in making these is to shape a pipe cleaner into a the shape you desire.  Make sure to form a hanger or add one to the shape using the pipe cleaner. Then boil about 2 cups of water (depends on how big your glass container is), let cool a little and pour into your glass container. Then, take about 6 Tablespoons of Borax and stir into the water until dissolved.  Then hang your pipe cleaner shape from a pencil. Place the pencil on top of the glass container.  Make sure it is submerged.

You can add more Borax which will create more crystals.  Let this sit over night, and the next morning  you'll have beautiful crystal shapes. ***Keep the pipe cleaner submerged over night! It was fun to experiment and check them the next morning.  Here are some of our results:

Close-up Crystals

Red Metallic Heart

Silver Pipe Cleaner Snowflake

Swirls

We had a lot of fun experimenting with this idea. We tried adding food color, but the colorful pipe cleaners really brought out the color too.  Have fun with this experiment and let me know your results!

Making GIANT Snowflakes

The other day we started making GIANT Snowflakes and it has been a HUGE hit with my daughter.  These snowflakes have made wonderful window decorations that literally fill the sections of our windows. They make great holiday and Winter decorations to brighten up the drab days of Winter here in Ohio.  Also, they would be a great way to bring some snow to warmer climates out there.

To make these GIANT Snowflakes you'll need:

Large White Gift Tissue 

Scissors

The White Tissue Paper is great to use because you can fold this paper countless times cut easily through many layers.  It is a little tricky to fold, but you could have the tissue pre-folded for your kids and show them how to cut shapes.  My daughter mostly cut triangle shapes which is the easiest shape to cut.

Here are the steps.  Basically you fold the square into a triangle and keep matching each corner to corner to create smaller triangles. Between steps 5 and 6 you want to round the top so the snowflake will be a circular shape. Then begin cutting shapes on each edge. My daughter mostly cut triangle shapes because that is the easiest shape to cut. You can definitely experiment with different shapes.

Have FUN! Children and adults get a lot of satisfaction from cutting snowflakes.

And it is always a surprise each time you open a folded snowflake. This activity could be a science experiment in which you predict what each snowflake might look like.  It is a great lesson in symmetry too. Also, you could pair this activity with my Exploring Snowflakes...Up Close post and observe real snowflakes and learn about Wilson Bentley who took the first pictures of snowflakes.  Look how big this snowflake is compared to my daughter....AWESOME!

Here is some of our window display from outside our house.  They look wonderful! I'm sure it brightens everyone's day when they go by our house. I know it makes me smile each time I see them. 

HAPPY WINTER!

Enjoy making snowflakes...

Exploring Snowflakes... Up Close

Have you every really looked at snowflakes?  Real snowflakes up close?  Well,  that is what Cassie and I did recently after finally getting some snow! (snow has been a precious commodity this winter) Either way this activity is fun to talk about even if you haven't had snow or live in an area with no snow accumulation.  Here is a picture of what a snowflake can look like up close.  Keep reading to find out how we did this activity and the fabulous book that we read too!

First we gathered a black piece of construction paper and a magnifying glass.  Some sites like Weather Wiz Kids recommend putting the paper in the freezer,  but it was a cold enough day for us!

Then we caught snowflakes on the black paper and our mittens.  It was a little easier catching them on our dark mittens because our paper would blow about at times!!! We observed lots and lots of beauties! Each snowflake is truly different and it is nice to show this through this activity.  C was a little scientest practicing her observation skills.

When we observed the snowflakes we saw all kinds of shapes very similar (but different) to these pictured below.  Each snowflake is different depending on the temperature,  humidity, wind speed,  and how long it takes for the snowflakes to hit the ground.  I'm sure if we observed snowflakes each time it snowed they would be different.  If you don't have snow you could observe Snowflakes Photographs from a Google Image Search by clicking here.  My daughter was fascinated at looking at the pictures too!!!

An excellent kid's book to go with this activity is Snowflake Bentley, by Jacqueline Briggs.  It is a true story about a man, Wilson Bentley, whom they called "Snowflake Man".  Wilson Bentley was obsessed with taking pictures of snowflakes in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  He was the first to do this and had a true passion for doing this.  He published a book in 1931, Snow Crystals ,with over 2,500 photographs of snowflakes!!! There is a Snowflake Bentley Museum too! 

 

Have Fun Observing Snowflakes!

Links:

Official Snowflake Bentley Website/ Museum
Experiment: Observing Snowflakes from Weather Wiz Kids 

My Other Snow Links:
Beaded Snowflakes
Snowflakes from Recycled Water Bottles

An Experiment in Making Snow

Two Kinds of Snow Dough

Bringing Color To Snow (Snow Painting)

Revisiting Snow Painting

Colorful Ice Sculptures 

Painting With Ice Cubes

This post is linked to: Link and Learn

Snowflakes From Recycled Water Bottles

Today I'm guest posting over at The Artful Parent!!! I'm truly honored to be on Jean's blog since her blog is one of the main reasons I started The Chocolate Muffin Tree.  I started following The Artful Parent in 2009 after seeing it recommended in Parent Magazine.  I hope you can pop on over to find out how we made these Snowflakes From Recycled Water Bottles here.  We had a lot of FUN and they turned out GORGEOUS!
Thanks to The Artful Parent for her continued inspiration...hope you enjoy the post!!!

Tie Dye Coffee Filter Snowflakes

Join me over at PreK + K Sharing blog today and find out how we made these Tie Dye Coffee Filter Snowflakes  here.   PreK + Sharing is a collaborative blog consisting of many talented bloggers believing in: 1. Excellence in early childhood education.  2. Delight and appreciation for all things "ART" related.  and 3. A shared joy in child-centered, child-directed, and genuine play-based adventures.  Hope you check my post out here and all the other great posts by other bloggers! Didn't these Snowflakes turn out wonderful?

Beaded Snowflakes.....and Happy Winter Solstice!

Happy Winter Solstice!  So appropriate to be making snowflakes and other wintery things!  We made some Beautiful Snowflakes using some Chenille stems and some beads! They turned out rather Lovely! This is a nice simple activity that could make a great holiday gift of an ornament or just something to occupy your kids while you are so busy.  I know I have been super busy!

I chose chenille stems in icy colors like Blue, Silver, and White to look more like wintery snowflakes. For the beads, I chose icy colors (cool colors like blue, green, and purple) and crystal clear beads to add to the wintery effect!

I cut the chenille stems in half and twisted three of them together to create a star or asterisk shape. You could use all the same color or mix like I did here.

The all you need to do is slide the beads on the chenille stems.  You could put them on randomly or in a pattern.

Here is one with more of a pattern! Then take another half of a chenille stem and twist on a loop to hang the snowflake!

I just love these! Cassie has been working on a few each day.  We'll have a collection by the end of the week!

HAPPY WINTER!

Linked to: Kids Art Explorers

Watercolor Heart Snowflakes Were A Hit!!

Thanks to The Artful Parent Blog we created these spectacular coffee filter watercolor snowflakes! My daughter Cassie wanted to create these every day for the past few days!  Cut out hearts from coffee filters, refold to create snowflakes, and then watercolor!  So simple and so fun!  I think Mom enjoyed it just as much!

These are lovely!

So Pretty!

We could do these again and again!