Snowflake Craft

We have been studying the weather in our homeschool these last few weeks. Right now we are studying the winter weather. Blizzards, ice storms, and how snow and ice are formed.

After searching the internet for a snow craft I kept running across making a snowflake out of Borax and pipe cleaners. I dropped the ball and kept forgetting to pick up the Borax at the store for the craft. Better late than never! What fun the kids had making snowflakes.

It is a simple craft all you need is:
1. Borax- -1/4 cup per 2 cups of water
2. Pipe cleaners approximately 3 per snowflake
3. Scissors to cut pipe cleaners
4. Glass jar wide mouth
5. Pencil or stick
6. Boiling Water

First we cut the pipe cleaner in 3rds. Twist them together in the center. Bend the pieces to create square or rectangular or any shape of snowflake you want.

This twisted part was a little difficult for Bug. She threw it a few times out of frustration. As always she is a trooper and kept at it.

Now she is smiling and happy. Mom had to add the little parts in for the snowflake.

Attach a long pipe cleaner in the middle of the snowflake. Which will be used to hold the snowflake in the container. You can use string also.

So the kids wanted me to show both of the snowflakes. Purple is Bug's and the green is Little Man's. I know that's not so hard to figure out. I tried talking them into making a different styles each so we could see what it looked like. They both wanted the same one :0)

You will need a container that is wide and deep enough to allow the snowflakes to float freely. Find a stick or pencil that can sit across the top of the container.

 

You will  heat the water to boiling and pour it into the container. Add about 1/4 cup of borax for every 2 cups of boiling water. Stir the Borax until it dissolves. If all the borax dissolves, continue adding more borax until a bit is left not dissolved.

Put the stick over the container so that all the snowflakes are floating in the borax solution.

You can see the crystals forming in around an hour. We left the snowflakes in for around 2 hours. Add more Borax if it isn't crystallizing. I also read that you can leave them over night to let the crystals form.

There you have it snowflakes in a mild Kansas winter without the snow!