DIY Magic Crystal Garden!
This is such an easy and low cost experiment and the kids and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Who knew you could do this in your own home with very little set up and minimal ingredients! I was SUPER excited when I found this on ‘About.com’! Ahhh, I love Pinterest!
To make your own you will need
Epson Salts (found at most chemists)
Glass Bowl or large Jar
Food Colouring
Water
Spoon
An extra container for measuring
We experimented a little and found these measurements gave us the best results.
Step 1
Pour two cups of Epsom Salts into your glass bowl or jar.
Step 2
Add 1 cup of hot water to the salt
Step 3
Add another cup of hot water to a container & add a few drops of food colouring, then add to the bowl/jar
Step 4
Using your spoon, give your mixture a really good stir – mix for approximately 2 minutes – but don’t be too alarmed if there is some salt at the bottom that hasn’t dissolved
Step 5
Add your mixture to the fridge (the coldest part is the best – we put ours right at the back).
Leave your mixture over night and when the kids awake, they will find a Magical Crystal Garden growing in their very own house….magic! Perhaps even the fairies had something to do with this?
We poured a little of the excess water out to get an even better look at our beautiful Crystals!
We experimented with different colours too!
The texture is amazing and the kids loved getting their hands in there and touching all of their magical crystals!
Every time we made a new ‘batch’, the crystals were completely different! Just like perfectly unique snow flakes. It really is fascinating!
If you liked this experiment, you may also like some of our other Sciency (yes, that’s a word) FUN:
Fun! Can’t wait to try it with my kids!
when I was a child (many, many years ago) my father made a crystal garden using coal and salt and food coloring. I don’t remember the recipe but I do remember how neat looking it was.
That sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing that with us. Louise x
I was just wondering can I use any Epson salt from like Walmart or is that a special craft Epson salt.
Hi Tania, any Epson Salts will work : )
This sound wonderful & I can’t wait to try it with my kids but was just wondering how long the crystals stay formed for?
As long as they don’t get wet (dissolve) again they should last forever :).
Such a cute idea! Definitely going to try this with my class at daycare!!! I love this site it is full of fun and educational ideas for kids!
Hi Morgan, Thank you so much for posting this :). Messages like this make our day/week!! We have so many more great ideas to come! Louise x
Hi, i thought this sight was educational, but i was wondering if you can use alum? would this experiment work?