Here are Fun Kids we love activities. In fact we have a whole podcast dedicated to it called Activity Quest.
Making our own crystals is one of our favourite things to do on a rainy day.
You can listen to the Activity Quest episode This Episode Rocks below, where Dan talks us through how he makes crystals. Or scroll on for instructions.
What are Crystals?
Crystals are a special kind of solid material where the molecules, which are really tiny things that everything on Earth is made from, fit together in a pattern that keeps repeating itself. Because of these patterns, crystals from all sorts of unique and beautiful shapes.
Crystals take many different forms. 2 examples of crystals are diamonds and snowflakes.
Today we’re going to make salt crystals.
How to make Salt Crystals at Home
Make sure you have a responsible adult to help you with this experiment.
First let’s get everything we are going to need to make our crystals.
To grow your own salt crystals you’ll need:
- Table salt
- Distilled Water – this is a special type of water you can buy at garages and supermarkets , it is very pure and has no minerals in it unlike some water.
- A clean, clear glass container – a jam jar is perfect String
And a spoon for stirring.
Once you have everything for your experiment ready here’s what to do:
- Get an adult to help you put the salt into boiling hot water. Keep adding more salt until no more salt will dissolve. You can tell this is happening when crystals start to appear at the bottom of the container. The water needs to be boiling or freshly boiled to help the salt dissolves so make sure there is an adult always on hand to assist you.
- Now carefully pour the solution, that’s a fancy word for the salt and water mix, into your jar.
- Take your spoon and tie the string in the middle and then suspend your string into the jar by laying the spoon across the top of the jar.
- Now leave your jar somewhere it will not be disturbed and wait for your crystal to grow! This might take a few days – you could take pictures every day to see how fast it grows.
If you love science experiments like this and love everything science don’t forget to check out our podcast, Science Weekly.
In each episode I take a look at the week’s biggest science stories. There’s also some amazing special guests, episodes from our favourite science series, and top experts answering all your science-related questions!
It’s basically loads of amazing science stuff – crammed into a twenty minute chunk! Prepare to have your mind blown!
And you can check out Dan trying some challenges below!
