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Science Projects > Chemistry Projects > How to Make Crystals: Grow Your Own Crystals  

How to Make Crystals: Grow Your Own Crystals

What are crystals and how do they form? With these crystals growing science experiments, you will grow crystals of your own to find out more about these fascinating and beautiful wonders! A crystal is a solid material with atoms and molecules that are arranged in a consistent repeating pattern, creating one of seven geometrical shapes. Crystals can be expensive and beautiful, like amethysts or diamonds. But they can also be found right in your kitchen in the form of sugar and salt! You can easily grow crystals by adding a crystal-forming chemical to water and waiting for the water to cool or evaporate.

Here you’ll find five different methods for how to grow crystals. Science experiments with instructions are provided for each. How does the chemical used affect the crystals grown? Which crystal growing science project is your favorite?

Crystal Growing Science

• Rock Candy Sticks

Get ready to watch some cool crystals grow! And when you’re done, you can eat them or give them away as Christmas gifts! Click here to download a rock candy crystals printable.

What You Need:

• 1 1/2 cups of white sugar
• 1 cup of water
• Small plate
• Several 250 ml beakers or small clean jars
• Cake pop sticks or wooden skewers
• Food coloring pack (optional)
• An adult to help you

Note: You can make Rock Candy without sticks. Use a piece of clean cotton string or thread. Follow steps 2-7 below then dip the string into the solution so that half of the string is coated. Take the string out and let it dry. Once the string has dried, tie the clean end around a pencil and put the dipped end back into the glass of sugar water solution, balancing the pencil across the rim of the glass. Make sure the string does not touch the bottom or the sides of the glass, or your crystals will not form right! When your piece of “rock candy” is as big as you want it to be (about one week), take it out of the glass, let it dry, and enjoy!

1. Fill a glass with water, pour some sugar on a small plate, and lay out a sheet of waxed paper. Dip one end of each stick (cut pointed ends off if you use skewers) into the water and then roll it in the sugar, tapping it gently to remove excess. Set each stick to dry on the waxed paper.

2. Pour the cup of water into the saucepan and add 1/2 cup sugar. Stir it well until no more sugar will dissolve. Add more sugar (1/2 cup at a time) until you can’t get any more to dissolve even after stirring for several minutes. You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups sugar dissolved in the saucepan. It’s OK if there is some undissolved sugar at the bottom of the pan. (You now have a saturated sugar solution.)

3. Ask an adult to help you heat the sugar mixture on the stove until it boils, stirring the whole time. Turn the heat to medium-low and keep stirring until all the sugar dissolves. (Now you have made a supersaturated solution!)

4. Keep cooking the liquid and stirring it until it becomes clear, but not for more than 5 minutes, or it will get too hot and turn into hard candy! Turn off the stove as soon as it starts to look clear.

5. Move the pan off the heat and allow it to cool down until the pan is no longer hot (the sugar solution will still be slightly warm).

6. Have an adult slowly pour the thick sugar solution into the jars. Fill each about 2/3 full, or enough so that sugar solution will cover several inches of your sugar-coated sticks.

7. Add 5-6 drops of food coloring to each jar and stir. (Optional: Only do this step if you want to make different colors of rock candy!)

8. Once the solution is cool and the sugar-coated sticks are completely dry, place several sticks into each jar.

9. Carefully move the jars to a place where they won’t be disturbed. Check them every other day and gently stir the sticks around in the sugar solution to break up any large crystals forming on the surface.

10. Within a few days, you should start to see crystals growing on the sticks. After about one week, you will probably have a lot of crystals. When your “rock candy” crystals are as big as you want them to be, take them out of the jars and set each color of candy in a clean glass to dry.

11. Once they are dry, you can wrap in cellophane food wrap and tie with ribbon for a sweet Christmas gift!

What Happened:

In step two you made a saturated solution—there was so much sugar in the water that it couldn’t dissolve any more sugar and some was left in the bottom of the pan. Once the saturated solution started to heat up, the water was able to dissolve even more sugar and a supersaturated solution was formed in step three. Then, as the solution cooled, the sugar molecules in it started to join with the sugar molecules on the sticks. The sugar on the sticks are called “seed” molecules and the sugar molecules in the solution attached themselves to the seed molecules.

Meanwhile, the water in the solution started to evaporate or dry up into the air, leaving only sugar molecules behind. More sugar molecules gradually joined with the ones already on the stick, forming larger crystals. Because all of the solute molecules are the same (they are all sugar), they all form the same shape of crystals and they all stick together, making a big chunk of sugar crystals that are pretty to look at and tasty to eat!

Note that this is a special science project that is safe to eat because you only used food products, not chemicals. Plus, you used clean dishes from your kitchen. Never eat any experiment unless it is made entirely out of food and you only used clean dishes to prepare it!

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• Sparkly Crystal Ornaments

In this project, you use a chemical called Borax to grow crystals shaped like snowflakes, stars, or candy canes. Then you can use them as pretty decorations!

• Wide-mouth jar
• Pipe cleaners
• 1-cup measuring cup
• Food coloring (optional)
• Glow-in-the-dark paint (optional)
• Ribbon (optional)

What You Do:

1. Twist pipe cleaners into whatever shape you’d like (we chose a simple star). Note: Make sure your pipe cleaner shape will fit easily into your jar with plenty of space around the mouth of the jar as the shape will be slightly wider once crystals have formed on it, making it harder to remove!

2. Tie a piece of string to one point of the shape. Tie the other end around the middle of a pencil.

3. Hang the shape in the jar with the pencil resting across the mouth of the jar. Make sure that it hangs without touching any part of the jar. Take it out of the jar and set it aside.

4. Use a 1-cup measuring cup to count how many cups of water you need to fill your jar about 3/4 full. Then microwave the jar of water for 3-5 minutes or until it begins to boil. Have an adult carefully take the jar out using hot pads (the jar will be very hot!) and set it on a heat-safe surface.

5. For every cup of water you put in the jar, measure three tablespoons of Borax. Stir the Borax solution with a spoon until as much of it dissolves as is possible. If you don’t see any tiny pieces of Borax floating around in the jar, add another tablespoon and stir. This will make a saturated solution.

6. Hang your pipe cleaner shape in the jar so that it is completely covered in the solution. Let it sit overnight. Gently remove your now crystal-covered shape in the morning and let it dry by setting it in a dry glass.

7. Optional: To make colored crystals, use colored pipe cleaners and add 5-10 drops of food coloring to the solution in step five. To make your snowflakes glow in the dark, paint the pipe cleaner shape with glow-in-the-dark paint in step one and let it dry completely before continuing. Once the crystals have dried, cut off the string and tie a ribbon to one point of your crystallized shape to make a Christmas tree ornament! These ornaments are fairly sturdy and make lovely Christmas gifts for friends, teachers, or family members.

As in the rock candy project, you made a saturated solution of Borax, which is a chemical that forms crystals when the conditions are right. By mixing it with hot water and letting it cool and having something for the Borax (solute) molecules to attach to (the pipe cleaner shape), you gave the solution the right conditions to grow crystals! Once the crystals started to grow on your shape, more and more crystals formed around them. Ice crystals that real snowflakes are made of are not quite like these Borax crystals, but they do look sort of similar and they both are pretty and sparkle when light shines on them.

Real ice crystals are made only of water. The difference is that they are formed when water vapor in clouds freezes and falls to the ground as snowflakes! Frost is another form of ice crystals that you might see on windows and grass on cold mornings. To learn more about snow and ice crystals, check out our Snow and Hail  article.

How to Grow Crystals at Home

Table of Contents:

Quick Crystal Cup

Growing gems.

• Salt vs. Sugar

Taking It Further

• Crystal Growing Science Kits

Some crystal growing science projects can take several days. But this super-easy recipe gives you a cup full of needle-like crystals in just a few hours!

• Buy magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt)
• Food coloring pack
• 250 ml beaker
• In the beaker, stir 1/2 cup of magnesium sulfate with 1/2 cup of very hot tap water for at least one minute. This creates a saturated solution, meaning no more salt can dissolve in the water. (Some undissolved crystals will be at the bottom of the glass.)
• Add a couple drops of food coloring if you want your crystals to be colored.
• Put the beaker in the refrigerator.
• Check on it in a few hours to see a beaker full of crystals! Pour off the remaining solution to examine them.

Epsom salt is another name for the chemical magnesium sulfate. The temperature of the water determines how much magnesium sulfate it can hold; it will dissolve more when it is hotter. Cooling the solution rapidly encourages fast crystal growth, since there is less room for the dissolved salt in the cooler, denser solution. As the solution cools, the magnesium sulfate atoms run into each other and join together in a crystal structure. Crystals grown this way will be small, thin, and numerous. To grow large single crystals, you’ll need to follow the evaporation procedure in the next project.

You can grow single, large crystals that look like gems by using a seed crystal. Here’s how to do it:

• Alum (you can often find this in the spice aisle of the grocery store)
• Clean 250 ml beaker or jar
• Saucer or shallow dish ( plastic petri dishes works, too)
• Fishing line

1. In one 250 ml beaker, slowly add alum to 1/4 cup of very hot tap water, stirring to dissolve. Keep adding the alum until no more will dissolve: this is a saturated solution. Pour a little bit of this solution into a shallow dish or saucer and let it sit undisturbed overnight. Make sure you only pour the clear solution, not any of the undissolved material. (You can pour it through a coffee filter if necessary.)

2. The next day you should see small crystals growing in the dish. When they look to be a good size, carefully pour off the solution.

3. Make another saturated alum solution with about 1/2 cup of hot water. Pour the solution into a clean beaker or jar; avoid pouring any undissolved material.

4. Remove the biggest and best-looking of the small crystals from the saucer to use as your seed crystal.

5. Get someone to help you tie the fishing line to the seed crystal. This can be tricky; a pair of tweezers will help! If you need to, you can score a groove in the crystal to hold the line in place.

6. Tie the other end of the fishing line to a pencil, then set the pencil across the top of the jar so the seed crystal is suspended in the alum solution without touching the sides or bottom of the jar. (You may need to adjust the length of the fishing line: just wrap it around the pencil until it is the right length.) Note: if your seed crystal starts to dissolve, that means your solution isn’t saturated enough. Remove the seed quickly and add more alum to the solution, filtering off any undissolved particles.

7. Cover the jar with a paper towel to keep out the dust and let your crystal grow until you are happy with its size. When you take it out of the solution, set it on some plastic wrap to dry.

Note: if you see other crystals growing in the jar, transfer the solution and seed crystal to another clean jar.

The small crystals that formed in the saucer grew because of nucleation. A few alum molecules found each other in the solution and joined together in a crystal pattern. Other alum molecules continued to join them until enough molecules gathered to become a visible crystalline solid. (Chemists call that a crystal “falling out of” the solution.) If you left these crystals in the solution they would continue to grow, but they wouldn’t get very big because they would all be competing for the remaining alum molecules in the solution. Instead, you took one crystal and used it as the only nucleation site in the solution. It was the primary site for the alum molecules to join together, so the crystal could grow quite large!

#5: Salt vs. Sugar

How can you tell the difference between sugar and salt crystals? They’re both crystals and they look very similar—they are both small, white-colored grains. Of course if you tasted each of them, you would know right away which one was salt and which was sugar because they taste very different. In this project you will find out how to tell sugar and salt apart just by looking at them!

• A teaspoon of table salt
• A teaspoon of white granulated sugar
• Two sheets of black construction paper
• A small magnifying glass
• Crystals worksheet

1. Put a teaspoon of salt on one sheet of black paper and a teaspoon of sugar on the other.

2. Use your fingers to spread the grains apart a little so you can see them better. Now look closely at the grains on each sheet of paper and compare how they look. Do you notice any differences between the two?

3. Now use your magnifying glass to look up close at a few grains of the salt. What shape are they? Are they all about the same shape? Draw their shape in the correct spot on the worksheet.

4. Now take a look up close at a few grains of the sugar. What shape are they? Are they a different shape from the salt crystals? Do you notice anything else that makes them look different from the salt? Draw their shape on the worksheet.

Sugar and salt grains are actually tiny crystals. Can you tell if the picture to the left is salt or sugar? It’s sugar!

If you were to make a saturated solution of salt and one of sugar, you would be able to see them grow into much larger crystals, but they would always have the same shape as these tiny crystals do! The salt crystals are cube shaped (like dice) and have six sides. The sugar crystals are very rough looking and are shaped more like rectangles with pointed ends.

Most of the crystals are the same shape and size and look very similar to each other, but you probably saw a few crystals on your paper that looked a little different. Those crystals probably had pieces broken off of them, or there might even be more than one crystal stuck together, making them look different from the others. Also, the coloring of the crystals is a little different. Sugar crystals look very clear and sparkly while salt is duller and looks more white-colored or frosted.

There are many factors that affect crystal growth, so crystal projects are great for scientific experimentation and science fairs. For example, many crystals are formed because of evaporation. Temperature and humidity are two things that affect the rate of evaporation, so you could design an experiment to see how different temperatures and humidity levels affect the rate of crystal growth and the size of crystals. Another aspect to test is the rate at which your solution is cooled: if you make a solution with boiling water, will crystals grow better if it’s allowed to come to room temperature slowly or if it’s cooled in the refrigerator?

There are many substances that can be used to grow crystals. You could design an experiment to test which one grows larger crystals under the same conditions. Try alum, Epsom salt, table salt, sugar, baking soda, or non-household chemicals like copper sulfate (blue crystals) and potassium ferricyanide (red crystals); adult supervision is required for the last two.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Crystal Growing Experiments for Science Fairs

Crystal growing experiments make excellent science fair projects for students of all ages. They allow young scientists to explore chemistry, physics, geology, and mineralogy in a hands-on way. With just a few affordable materials, students can grow beautiful crystals and learn about the science of crystal formation and structure along the way.

In this beginner’s guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know to create winning crystal growing science fair projects, including:

• The scientific method and how to develop a strong hypothesis
• Tips for recording data and observing crystal growth
• The chemistry and physics behind crystal formation
• Step-by-step instructions for basic crystal growing experiments
• Ideas for variables to test and how to display your results
• Safety precautions for grown crystals at home

So let’s get started with the magical science of growing crystals!

Table of Contents

The Scientific Method for Science Fair Projects

All good science fair projects follow the scientific method. This involves:

• Making observations about something you want to learn more about
• Coming up with a hypothesis or question about what you observe
• Designing an experiment to test your hypothesis
• Systematically collecting and recording data
• Analyzing your data to see if your hypothesis was correct
• Drawing conclusions and sharing what you learned

When it comes to crytal growing experiments, you will first want to research how crystals form before developing a hypothesis. Your hypothesis should be a statement that predicts what will happen in your experiment.

Here are some example hypothesis for crystal growing experiments:

• If I use hotter water, then my crystals will grow bigger than crystals grown in colder water.
• If I use more borax powder, then my crystals will grow faster than crystals grown with less borax.
• If I use a crystal seed, then my crystals will be more uniform in size and shape compared to crystals grown without a seed.

Tips for Recording Crystal Growth Data

Careful observation and data collection are key parts of the scientific method. Here are some tips for recording data for your crystal growing experiment:

• Take photos  at the start and end of your experiment to document crystal size and shape. Take photos from multiple angles.
• Make drawings  of your crystals each day in a lab notebook, noting details like number of facets and color.
• Measure growth  with a ruler and record length, width and height of crystals daily.
• Weigh crystals  with a kitchen or scientific scale at the start and end of the experiment.
• Track timing  – note the date each crystal first starts forming and record how many days it takes to fully grow.
• Write observations  about crystal color, clarity, structure and more in your lab notebook.
• Control variables  like temperature, light, humidity so all crystals grow under the same conditions.

Thorough data records will help you analyze your results and draw conclusions about which variables impact crystal growth.

The Chemistry Behind Crystal Formation

Crystals form through a chemical process called crystallization. This occurs when a crystalline solid forms from a solution, melt, vapor or gas. Here are some key chemical concepts:

• Solubility  – how much of a substance will dissolve in a liquid solvent like water
• Concentration  – the amount of solute dissolved in the solvent
• Supersaturation  – when more solute is dissolved than the solvent can normally hold at a given temperature
• Nucleation  – seeds or starting points for crystals to begin forming
• Lattice structure  – the organized arrangement of molecules in a crystal

Growing crystals requires creating a supersaturated solution then allowing the excess solute to crystallize out slowly over time.

The Physics of Crystal Growth

In addition to chemistry, the physics of crystals involves concepts like:

• Crystalline structure  – the repeating internal arrangement of atoms
• Polymorphism  – ability for a substance to form different crystal structures
• Light refraction  – how light bends through the crystal lattice
• Facets  – the external plane surfaces of a crystal

The inherent atomic structure of substances determines their crystallization pattern. Changing factors like temperature can result in different crystalline shapes.

Step-by-Step: Growing Crystals with Borax

One of the easiest and most foolproof crystals to grow are borax crystals.

Supplies Needed

• Borax powder (available at grocery stores)
• Boiling water
• Glass jar or drinking glass
• Pipe cleaner or wooden skewer

Step 1: Make a supersaturated borax solution

• Heat 1 cup of water until boiling
• Slowly stir in borax powder, 3 tablespoons at a time until no more dissolves. The water should be super saturated.

Step 2: Add the crystal seed

• Tie a pipe cleaner or wooden skewer to the end of string.
• Twist the string around a pencil and hang string in the jar, so seed is suspended in the center.

Step 3: Allow crystals to grow

• Set jar aside for 3-7 days, undisturbed.
• Watch as crystals form on the seed and grow larger each day.

Borax crystals growing on a suspended pipe cleaner seed

This easy experiment yields fast-growing crystals. Try varying the amount of borax, the temperature of water, or crystal seed shape toobserve the differences!

Variables to Test with Crystal Growing Experiments

The great thing about crystal experiments is there are many variables you can test:

Solute Concentration

• Does more or less solute (ex: borax, sugar, salt) affect crystal size and growth rate?

Solvent Temperature

• Do crystals grow faster in hot, warm or cold water?

Crystal Seeds

• How does seed size, shape or material affect crystallization?

Growing Conditions

• Does sunlight exposure vs. darkness impact crystal structure?
• Do crystals grow differently in humid vs dry conditions?
• What happens if you add food coloring, glitter or other solutes to the solution?

Testing variables requires changing one thing at a time while keeping all other conditions the same. For example, grow one crystal in hot water and one in cold water, but keep the borax amount the same.

Record your observations and data to see which variable had the greatest effect!

Creative Ways to Display Crystal Experiments

Science fair projects should be visually engaging. Here are some ideas for displaying crystals:

• Mount individually on contrasting putty or fabric. Include labels.
• Arrange multiple crystals together in a decorative bowl.
• Build a terrarium or diorama with crystals clustered on rocks, sticks, pine cones etc.
• Attach crystals to floral wire stems to make a crystal bouquet or chandelier.
• Place crystals over a lightbox or shining flashlight to show off reflections.
• Photograph crystals through a microscope or magnifying glass.

Get creative with your crystal display so your hard work shines!

An example of a creative crystal experiment display

Safety Tips for Growing Crystals at Home

While growing crystals with household materials is generally safe, be sure to follow these precautions:

• Work under adult supervision.
• Wear safety goggles when handling hot liquids.
• Use oven mitts to pour hot water into jars.
• Wash hands after touching chemicals.
• Label solutions so others know they are part of an experiment.
• Store experiments out of reach of small children and pets.
• Dispose of chemicals properly when finished.

Top Crystal Growing Projects for Kids

Growing colorful, sparkly crystals with common household ingredients makes for ideal kid-friendly science experiments. Here are some of the best options:

Rock Candy Crystals

• Dissolve sugar in hot water to form a super saturated solution.
• Add a paper clip or candy shard as a seed crystal.
• Allow the sugar crystals to form on the seed over 7-10 days.

Epsom Salt Crystals

• Mix Epsom salt and very hot water until no more dissolves.
• Hang a small object in the water and let the cubic Epsom crystals slowly grow.

Alum Crystals

• Create a super saturated alum solution by dissolving powdered alum in hot water.
• Add a popsicle stick or tongue depressor to grow beautiful starburst-shaped alum crystals.

Sea Salt Crystals

• Heat water with lots of iodized sea salt until no more dissolves.
• Watch intricate crystals emerge as the mixture slowly cools.

Borax Snowflake Crystals

• Tie a pipe cleaner into a snowflake shape and dangle in borax supersaturated solution.
• The crystals that form mimic gorgeous frozen snowflakes.

So try out one of these kid-friendly crystal experiments for your next science fair!

Tips for Growing the Best Quality Crystals

Patience and care will yield the best crystal results. Here are some expert tips:

• Use high purity ingredients like laboratory grade chemicals. Table salt and borax have additives that distort crystal shape.
• Filter the solute solution through cheesecloth or coffee filter to remove debris.
• Choose glass, plastic or metal containers that are very clean. Imperfections can block crystal growth.
• Control temperature carefully during growth. Drastic temperature changes cause cracks and cloudiness.
• Protect growing crystals from vibration by placing on sturdy shelves away from activity.
• Hang seed strings and objects completely motionless for symmetrically formed crystals.
• Grow crystals slowly over weeks. Fast growth traps impurities deforming crystals.

With pristine conditions, you can grow nearly flawless specimens worthy of display!

Fun Advanced Crystal Projects

Once you master the basics, consider taking your crystal experiments to the next level:

• Grow enormous single crystals by slowly increasing super saturation over time in a temperature controlled environment.
• Crystallize biochemicals like proteins or enzymes using ultra-pure laboratory grade water and controlled pH. Use specialized seed substrates.
• Grow your own synthetic gemstones with solutions of metallic salts using advanced hydrothermal techniques.
• Create giant crystals through techniques like chemical vapor deposition where minerals deposit from gas onto seeds in enclosed chambers.
• Simulate extraterrestrial crystal formation by crystallizing chemicals in low gravity or extreme temperatures.

The possibilities are endless for taking crystal projects from basic science fair fun to advanced chemical engineering!

Ready to Grow Your Own Crystals?

We hope this beginner’s guide gives you the foundation to create stunning and educational crystal growing science experiments. Remember to follow the scientific method and keep thorough data records. And get creative with displaying your crystalline creations!

Crystal projects allow young scientists to explore the mysteries of chemistry, physics, geology and biology in a hands-on way. The magic happens when a shapeless solution transforms into an orderly lattice filled with color, reflections and geometric perfection.

So grab your borax and beakers and let the crystal growing fun begin!

What are the best  crystal growing  kits for beginners?

Many scientific companies sell beginner crystal growing kits that contain seeds and pre-made supersaturated solutions. This allows you to skip the chemistry and simply watch the crystals form over time. Popular starter kits to look for are the Crystal Science Crystal Growing Experiment Kit or the National Geographic Break Open Geodes Kit .

Is it safe to grow crystals with my kids?

Growing crystals from household ingredients like borax and sugar is generally safe with adult supervision. Be sure to follow safety precautions like wearing goggles when handling hot liquids and storing chemicals properly. Only work with child-safe substances and avoid crystal impurities that could be toxic.

How can I speed up the  crystal growth  process?

Crystals grow faster when the solution is more highly supersaturated. However, quick growth often traps more impurities leading to flawed crystals. For the best quality specimens , it’s best to have patience and allow crystals to form slowly over days or weeks. Controlling temperature also impacts growth rates.

What are some variables I can test with my  crystal science experiment ?

There are many different variables you can test to see their effect on crystal formation : amount of solute like sugar or borax, temperature of the water, size/shape of crystal seed , growing solutions in light vs. darkness, adding food coloring or glitter impurities , and more! Changing one variable at a time helps understand its specific impact on the crystals .

How can I display my crystals for a science fair project?

Some creative ways to display crystals are mounting them individually on cards, grouping together in bowls or jars, incorporating into a nature diorama with pine cones and sticks, suspending from pipe cleaners to make a crystal chandelier, placing them over a flashlight or LED lightbox to show refractions , or photographing them through a microscope to showcase details. Get creative with your crystal display !