Have you ever wondered how snowflakes get their beautiful shapes? Let’s turn into little scientists and grow our own crystal snowflakes using a simple experiment. Watch as tiny crystals slowly grow and sparkle like real frost!

YOU WILL NEED:

• Glass jar
• Hot water
• Pipe cleaners
• String
• Ice-cream stick
• Borax powder

SAFETY FIRST

Ask a grownup for help while handling the borax powder and hot water.

DO:

1. MAKE THE SNOWFLAKE SHAPE:

   Cut a long piece of pipe cleaner into three equal pieces.
   Twist the pipe-cleaner pieces together at the centre to create a snowflake with six arms.
   Cut another pipe cleaner into six equal pieces, then twist one small piece onto each snowflake arm in a V shape.

2. PREPARE THE STRING

   Tie one end of your string to your snowflake.
   Tie the other end to an ice-cream stick.

3. GROW YOUR CRYSTALS

   Boil 4 cups of water.
   Slowly add 1.75 cups of borax powder, stirring as you go until it dissolves completely.
   Gently place the snowflake into the glass jar, making sure that it does not touch the container.
   Leave it overnight for the magic to happen!

4. THE NEXT DAY

   Carefully remove your crystallized snowflake.
   Let it dry.

WATCH:

See how crystals are taking shape.

HOW ARE CRYSTALS FORMED?

THINK ABOUT IT!

When you stir borax powder into hot water, it disappears like magic! The hot temperature of the water causes the borax powder to dissolve even more quickly than usual.

The real fun begins when the water starts to cool down. Suddenly, it can’t hold all that powder anymore, and all the extra borax has to find a spot to settle. The tiny salt crystals grow on top of each other on your pipe cleaner to form a large set of visible crystals. This amazing stacking trick is called crystallization!

WHERE ELSE CAN YOU SEE THIS?

LET’S FIND OUT!

The salt crystals you see on your homemade snowflake are a collection of hundreds of smaller crystals.

Every snowflake in the sky starts with a tiny dust particle floating in the air. Freezing-cold water droplets cling to this dust particle and begin to freeze.
As the crystal falls down, more frozen water sticks to it, stacking up in neat, repeating patterns to create their six-sided shape. This is also why no two snowflakes look the same!

DECORATE WITH YOUR SNOWFLAKES

Your crystal snowflakes aren’t just for science—they’re perfect for decorating!

Hang them near a window where sunlight catches the crystals and makes them twinkle like real frost.
Tie one onto a Christmas gift as a special, handmade surprise.
Use them as ornaments on your Christmas tree to give it a wintery touch.

SHOW OFF YOUR SPARKLY CREATIONS!

For more creative art and stories for children, explore Champak magazine.