Make Crystals

Materials Needed:

• Sugar or white Alum powder
• A thin thread
• Hot water (almost boiling)
• A pencil or popsicle stick
• Two clean jars (or a bowl and a clean jar)

Directions:

In a jar or bowl, add sugar or Alum to hot water and stir until you’ve reached saturation (meaning you’ve dissolved as much sugar or Alum into the water as you can). Pour the solution into a clean jar, leaving behind any undissolved sugar or Alum.

Tie a length of thin thread to a pencil or popsicle stick and then lower the thread into the solution in the jar until the thread touches the bottom of the jar. The pencil or popsicle stick should rest on the lip of the jar and hold the thread over the center of the jar.

Let the jar sit for 15 minutes, then swish the jar a bit. Wait another 15 minutes and swish the jar again. Wait an hour and swish it one final time. Set the jar where it won’t be disturbed.

Crystals should begin to develop on the thread within a few hours and continue to grow for a day up to several days.

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