I’ve seen many articles describing how to make a crystal. It’s one of those activities that kids LOVE, and I’ve been waiting to make some crystals with my girls for a while. With Easter coming I thought it would be really fun to see if we could make them in the shape of Easter eggs.
FIND EVEN MORE EASTER THEME ACTIVITIES IN OUR PRINTABLE EASTER LESSON PLANS.
Materials for Making Crystals
- Pipe cleaners
- Borax
- Bamboo Skewer (or similar object)
- String
- Boiling Water
- Glass bowl or jar with large opening
How to Make a Crystal
We started making our crystals by choosing colors for our eggs. I formed the egg shape, and the girls helped bend the decorative part of the eggs.
Then we used a piece of string to tie the egg to the bamboo skewer. Measure to make sure it will hang into the container without touching the bottom.
Next we poured enough water into our bowl to cover the eggs completely. We used about six cups of water to fill our bowl. You could also use a large jar if you have one. We didn’t have one with a wide enough mouth to fit our eggs.
Once the water is in the bowl add Borax. Use 3 Tablespoons of Borax for each cup of water. We added a little over a cup of Borax to our six cups of water. Then we stirred so some of the Borax would dissolve. Don’t worry if it isn’t completely dissolved.
Place the pipe cleaner egg into the bowl so that it isn’t touching the bottom of the container. Let the skewer rest on the sides. Make sure the egg is fully submerged in the water. (We thought ours was, but it ended up being just a bit above the water so the crystals didn’t form completely around the top.)
Set the container where it can be observed but won’t get bumped or disturbed. Stop back to check on the progress from time to time. My kids loved seeing the progress throughout the day. We left our crystals for about 24 hours before my kids couldn’t wait any longer. As we slowly pulled the egg out of the water mixture the kids’ faces lit up with excitement.
The finished crystal Easter eggs are beautiful!
As if they weren’t excited enough we took the crystal outside to see how the light shines and they loved it even more. I think we’ll be making some different versions of these in the future!
When we made our Easter egg crystals I didn’t realize Housing a Forest also made some adorable Easter inspired crystals last year. Check out their variations…super cute!
Have you made Borax crystals with your kids? What kind did you make?
More Playful Easter Learning
Get hands-on math fun with our 29-page roll and color Easter egg math set. Practice early math skills with these fun games kids love.
~~ Click Here to Get the Roll and Color Easter Egg Math Set ~~
MORE EASTER FUN WITH PRINTABLE EASTER THEME LESSON PLANS
Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.
GET YOUR LESSON PLANS
Preschool Easter Theme Lesson Plans
Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers.
More Fun with Easter Eggs
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Shelley
March 20, 2015 at 11:27 amWe made Shamrock crystals with my sons entire 2nd grade class. It was a ton of fun the kids Loved it! We didnt use boiling water just pretty hot water and they turned out great.
Amanda Grant
March 9, 2015 at 4:57 pmI just wanted people to know a few things of what NOT to do when trying to make borax crystals. It seems that you must use the hottest water possible and do not use plastic. I think glass is probably to best but plastic containers certainly don’t work.
Rick Tramonti
March 9, 2016 at 2:27 pmNo wonder it’s not working! I didn’t scroll down further assuming the directions provided the exact materials needed. You really need to add this to the top of the page by stating a GLASS bowl. There is a picture of a glass bowl, but to be honest I had no clue that it made a difference. I have 26 students waiting patiently…now I need to start aIl over! 🙁 I could have easily brought in glass bowls from home!
Shaunna Evans
March 14, 2016 at 2:48 pmHow unfortunate! I’ve updated the materials list. But what a great opportunity to demonstrate to your students that sometimes our first attempts at things don’t work out, and we have to try again.
Stephanie
April 12, 2014 at 6:50 pmHow durable are these? Are they the texture of rock candy? It looks really cool but my Lil ones are 2 &4, is that too young?
Shaunna Evans
April 22, 2014 at 2:10 pmIt is the texture of rock candy, but they wouldn’t make great toys to play with. They are best to make and observe then hang for a decoration. My 3 and 5 year old enjoyed observing and seeing how their crystals turned out, but they did need to be well supervised.
Cynthia
April 11, 2014 at 10:13 pmDoes it flake off though? Wondering if rock candy making would be better?
Shaunna Evans
April 22, 2014 at 2:11 pmOurs haven’t flaked off at all, even with a bit of handling and transferring around to different locations. I haven’t tried making rock candy, so I’m not sure how the two compare. I’ll have to test that out too. 🙂
Sandi
April 11, 2014 at 10:11 amWe have made borax snowflakes. The easter egg is a nice seasonal twist.
Rachel Kaylynn
April 10, 2014 at 9:34 pmWhat a fun idea – definitely going to have to try this with my kids! They loved making pipe cleaner snowflakes this past winter, I’m sure they’d also enjoy these.