Plenty of snowflakes around these days, so many that you’ll actually discover them forming this winter in Donna Baker’s second grade classroom. That’s where you’ll find the kids making their own crystal snowflake ornaments through a fun, hands-on science experiment that combines creativity with real chemistry.
Students started by cutting pipe cleaner sticks and shaping them into snowflakes patterns. Those patterns were then lowered by a string into a glass jar containing a solution of boiling water and borax powder. Borax is natural mineral compound used primarily as a laundry booster, household cleaner, and insecticide.
As the solution cooled in the jars overnight, a chemical reaction occurred, with the excess borax particles leaving the water and attaching to the pipe cleaners. Over time, these particles arrange themselves into repeating patterns, forming visible crystals. The crystal snowflakes are removed from the solution, dried and voila … you have crystal ornaments!
