Grow Your Own Snowflake...no Kidding!

**dolphin** · 10-31-2002, 11:28 PM

I just found this and thought it would be fun to do. I think my teenage boy will even like it.

Borax Crystal Snowflake.....Grow a snowflake in a jar!

You will need:

* string
* wide mouth pint jar
* white pipe cleaners
* blue food coloring (optional)
* boiling water (with adult help)
* borax (available at grocery stores in the laundry soap section,
as 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster - NOT Boraxo soap)
* pencil

Directions:
With a little kitchen science you can create long lasting snowflakes as sparkly as the real ones. Cut a white pipe cleaner into 3 equal sections. Twist the sections together in the center so that you have a "six-sided" star shape.

Pipe cleaners and string form a snowflake base for the crystals to grow on.

If your points are not even, trim the pipe-cleaner sections to the same length. Now attach string along the outer edges to form a snowflake pattern. Attach a piece of string to the top of one of the pipe cleaners and tie the other end to a pencil (this is to hang it from). Fill a widemouth jar with boiling water. Mix borax into the water one tablespoon at a time. Use 3 tablespoons of borax per cup of water. Stir until dissolved, (don't worry if there is powder settling on the bottom of the jar). If you want you can add a little blue food coloring now to give the snowflake a bluish hue. Insert your pipe cleaner snowflake into the jar so that the pencil is resting on the lip of the jar and the snowflake is freely suspended in the borax solution.

Wait overnight and by morning the snowflake will be covered with shiny crystals. Hang in a window as a sun-catcher or use as a winter time decoration.

For a picture of the snowflake and "the science behind the snowflake go to...
http://www.teelfamily.com/activities...snowflake.html