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Last week at Classical Conversations, we taught about crystals.  I tried (unsuccessfully) to grow the amazing alum crystals I saw online and I was so disappointed that nothing happened!  Luckily, Borax crystals grow overnight, so I was saved.  Here is how we did it!

I boiled a pot of water and then measured 1 1/3c of the boiled water and poured it into ta large mouth pint jar.  Then I added 4T. Borax and stirred until dissolved (by the way, Borax is found in the laundry detergent department and costs under $5).  Depending on the size of your jar, you may use differing amounts, but the ratio is 1cup boiling water to 3T. Borax.  I made a snowflake shape out of pipe cleaners and attached it to a pen/pencil in order to suspend it from the top.  Make sure the pipe cleaner shape isn’t touching the sides of the jar and let it sit overnight.  This is what it looked like at 10:30pm.

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And this is what it looked like at 7am!  I couldn’t believe how fast they grew.

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And here’s the finished product.  The crystals were so exciting to see when we woke up.  I would have loved to do this during the day and have the kids take a picture every hour or so to actually get to see the crystals grow!  I hope your family has a great time making these!

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5 Replies to “Borax Crystals”

  1. Hey I’m 10 years old i live in Michigan and I have a science fair in three days my science project is about crystals and so I was wondering if you have any more crystals I can do and also I will do that it sounds AWSOME and I hope that it works with me thx for the ideas. ☺️

    1. Emily,

      I hope this works well for you! I actually don’t have any more big crystals that can be done in that amount of time 🙁 One thing I did do was mix 2T of epsom salt and 2T. of hot water until it’s dissolved. Then paint it on to black paper and let it dry. It made really long, cool crystals. Good luck with your science fair!!

  2. I want to ask 3 questions
    How much did it take to become crystal ?
    From where can I get the borxas?
    What are materials used?
    Plz answer quickly

    1. Hi Rana! In the post, I say that I used 3T of borax for every cup of boiling water. So depending on the size of the jar, you’ll need to alter your amount. I just used borax and boiling water for my materials. I found the borax in the laundry department. It goes over the instructions on how to do it in the post. I hope it works for you!

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