I have been spending some time looking for activities for my kids to do. Since we are not a wealthy family (who is these days) I thought they could do a lot of homemade gifts and decorations. I figure I would post a few that we will be doing later this afternoon and tonight.
What you need:
Pipe cleaners
Scissors
Pencil
String
Mason jar or glass
Water
Borax
First, have your kids make different shapes out of their pipe cleaners, making sure that the finished shapes will easily fit inside your jars or glasses without touching the sides.
Next, boil your water. Carefully pour the water into the glass containers and then add your Borax (start with about 4 tablespoons). If you want, you can have your kids carefully stir the borax into the water - just remember that it's going to be hot! once the Borax is dissolved, check and see if there is sediment at the bottom of the glass. If not, add more Borax and stir
Tie a string around your pipe cleaner shapes and then tie them to the pencil. Then lower the pipe cleaner shape into the glass, resting the pencil on top to keep it from falling in. Make sure that the pipe cleaner shape does not touch the bottom of the container (if it does, pull your shape out and shorten up the string)
Let your containers sit undisturbed for 24 hours. Crystals should start to form in an hour or two as the water cools down. You can tell your kids that the hot water is able to hold more of the Borax, so as the water gets cold Borax is released and crystals form on the pipe cleaners!
After 24 hours (or earlier if you are impatient), pull your new ornaments out of the liquid, dry them off, and admire their crystally, frosty beauty
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