Salt crystals are a fun project to make, because they form bigger, stronger, and faster than many other types of crystals. Kids will love watching granular salt turn back into large chunks of clear salt. After doing the salt crystal ornament science experiment and learning about the science, kids can take the ornaments home and hang them on their Christmas trees at home, or you can use them in the classroom to decorate for the holidays.
Getting the Salt Crystal Ornament Science Experiment Ready
This experiment requires very little set up, but you will need to locate several sizes and shapes of glass containers. Save jars from pickles and other foods, or as your class to each bring a different glass container to school.
Get Ready for the Salt Crystal Ornament Science Experiment
You will need:
- Salt
- Several small glass containers
- Red and green pipe cleaners
- Pencils
- Salt crystal worksheet
- Portable stove or Bunsen burner
To get this freebie, use the ‘click here to download’ button at the bottom of this page!
Doing the Salt Crystal Ornament Science Experiment
The goal of this experiment is to see if the size or shape of the container influences the size or number of crystals on the ornament.
This works best as a group project, and since you’re working with boiling water, only a teacher should handle the water.
Use two pipe cleaners (one red and one green) to make a round ornament shape.
Allow the kids to make other shapes, if desired. This could also be part of the experiment to see if different shapes attract more crystals than another.
Leave enough pipe cleaner at the top of each ornament to wrap around a pencil. The pencil will suspend the ornaments in the saltwater.
Fill all the containers with water.
Pour the water into a pot and heat until the water starts to boil.
Add salt to the mixture until it starts to crystallize on the surface of the water.
Remove from heat.
Place the ornaments inside the containers.
Let the crystals form for three days.
Remove the crystals from the saltwater and let dry.
Observe the crystals. What container made the best crystals? What shape made the best crystals?
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This Salt Crystal Ornament Science Experiment is a fun activity for children of all ages. It would be the perfect hands-on and engaging activity to do during your holiday party this year.
Download Your Salt Crystal Ornament Science Experiment Activity Record Sheet Below:
Click the picture below to download.
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