We live in California and we don’t have snow. I like our weather, but I also like snow! The other week we went to the mountains to visit our very good friends…they have snow! The girls played in the snow and just LOVED it! They went sledding, they stomped in the snow and had snowball fights. It was so much fun!
At any rate…we decided to make some snowflakes with Borax. Easy peasy stuff and SO MUCH FUN!
Begin by cutting and twisting pipe cleaners into a snowflake shape. Since all snowflakes are different, we didn’t really worry about making them perfect. We used colored pipe cleaners to make our cute and colorful snowflakes, basically because we didn’t have white pipe cleaners 🙂
Then, fill your jar or container with boiling water. Add 3 Tablespoons for every cup of boiling water. Next, you can tie a string to one of the snowflake arms and tie the other end of a pencil to let it hang in the jar. We simply kept one of the arms longer and hung that from the pencil.
Finally, let the Borax snowflakes sit overnight. When you pull them from the water, you have the most AMAZING snowflakes! The girls went nuts overs these and examined them over and over again. We hung them from our window and pretended that we had snowflakes! We talked about how each snowflake is different and beautiful, just like all of us!
We also used this experience to write in our January Journals! Audrey did such a great job so it turned out to be a science experience AND a writing experience all in one! Her journal prompt for today was, If I were a snowflake….” Writing in our Journal prompts on a daily basis has really helped improve her writing! You can read more about our January Journal Prompts {HERE}.
Hi – I'd like to try this with my kids…how much borax do you put in the water?
Hi Anne,
I added 3 T. for every cup of boiling water needed to cover the snowflakes:) I hope you enjoy this activity!
The borax snowflakes are so cool, we did these last year and they lasted a very long time. I was surprised at how hard they get. Very cool. I sure wish that when we looked at the window snowflakes we saw bright green grass outside. It is FREEZING here…literally.
What a fabulous lesson, Annie. I've never seen this with the Borax but it looks like fun. You have such a great way of broadening your girls' world.
We are making this tomorrow!! I love your work…you amaze me!! 🙂
That is so cool!! My daughter would love that! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Ummm Annie…your 5 year old is an AMAZING writer!!!
I have been wanting to try making those Borax snowflakes! They look so cool.
Wow Annie! This is amazing! Those snowflakes are so cool. We've seen them with heart pipe cleaners for Valentine's Day too!
Incredible writing and products as well. You are so talented 🙂
~Christy & Tammy
Fluttering Through First Grade
I didn't know you lived in CA!!! Me too!!! Very cool!!!
My class made these crystals last Friday using your directions and pics. We checked them on Monday and they were AMAZED! Beautiful!! A great science lesson too.
Hey there! Found you from Homeschool Chicks. Love the borax snowflakes idea and I will be sharing this on my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/carrieisblessed Have a truly BLESSED day!