Learn about chemistry and geology growing crystals.
Most of these methods require only commonly found household chemicals.
What are Crystals?
A crystal is a substance in which the atoms, molecules, or ions which make up the substance are arranged in a regularly ordered, repeating, 3-dimensional pattern. Most crystals are solids. Common crystals are salt, quartz, and snowflakes.Links About the Science of Crystals
- Mohs Scale of Hardness
- The Mohs Scale of Hardness measures how well a substance resists scratching by another material. You can use this scale to test the hardness of rocks, minerals, and crystals, to help identify them.
- Types of Crystals - Shapes and Structures
- Types of Crystals - Shapes and Structures
- Crystallography
- Over 4,442 mineral species descriptions are included in this HTML-linked table of crystallography for all known valid mineral species.
- Bob's Rock Shop: Crystallography and Mineral Crystal Systems
- Introduction to Crystallography and Mineral Crystal Systems
- Snowflakes and Snow Crystals
- This site is all about snow crystals and snowflakes -- what they are, where they come from, and just how these remarkably complex and beautiful structures are created, quite literally, out of thin air.
- kids science information on crystals
- Crystals are all around us every day. Most of the time, we don't even realize all the crystals we see every day.
Books About Crystals
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byGrowing a Salt Crystals Garden
This experiment involves ammonia, kids should be supervised.This is a classic that normally produced white crystals but the additions of food coloring really makes them spectacular.
Materials
4 tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons liquid bluing (found in the laundry aisle)
4 tablespoons water
4 tablespoon ammonia
food coloring
Several small pieces of porous rock, charcoal, or broken terracotta flowerpots. Heavy cardboard cutout shapes can also be used.
Shallow dish such as a pie plate
Instructions
1: Mix the salt, liquid bluing, water, and ammonia together. Add food coloring if desired.
2: Pour the mixture over small pieces of porous rock, charcoal or pieces of broken clay flowerpots in the shallow dish.
3: Sprinkle a few tablespoons of salt over the pieces to seed the crystal formation.
4: Crystals will start to grow within 6 hours and continue for about three days.
5: To keep the crystals growing longer add more of the mixture every 3 days.
More on Salt Crystals
- SDNHM: Grow Your Own Crystals
- How to grow mineral crystals using table salt or epsom salt.
- Patio Table Crystals - Non-Toxic Outdoor Crystals for Glass Tables
- Turn the surface of your glass patio table into a safe place for kids to explore crystals. Here's an easy crystal project you can do on any warm, sunny day using ingredients from your kitchen.
- Grow your own Magic Crystal Tree - Instructables - DIY, How To, kids - The Instructables Book Contest Entry
- If you found an ad for this instructable in the back of a comic book, it would read something like:
"Amaze your friends by growing a crystal tree out of common table salt and a few other ingredients available from the grocery store" - How to grow Epsom salt crystals - by Farrah Tahar - Helium
- Epsom salt (magnesium sulphate) crystals are among the easiest and fastest to grow using equipment available in any science laboratory and even in ...
Books About Growing Crystals
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byYummy Crystals - Growing Rock Candy Crystals
This involves hot sugar syrup and can cause burns if splashed on the skin. Kids should do this experiment under close adult supervision.Materials
2 1-Pint Jars
Plastic tub lid
Bamboo Skewer
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
Food coloring (optional)
Instructions
1: Cut the pointy end off the skewer.
2: Combine water, sugar. and optionally food coloring in a pot and bring to a steady boil for 20 minutes (or use a candy thermometer and bring it to 250°F) stirring frequently to prevent burning.
3: Pour hot sugar syrup into one jar and cover for 15 minutes to cool.
3: Poke skewer through the plastic lid and place lid over the jar so the skewer is suspended in the sugar syrup. The end of the skewer should be about 1 inch above the bottom of the jar.
4: Watch the crystals grow. In 10-15 minutes you will stat to see crystals form on the skewer and throughout the syrup. After 30-45 minutes you should have a a good amount of crystals on the skewer, remove and suspend to dry in the empty jar. Do not leave the skewer in the sugar syrup too long or it will form so many crystals that it will be impossible to remove from the jar.
More Rock Candy Crystal Links
- Rock Candy - How to Make Flavored Rock Candy
- Rock candy is candy made by crystallizing sugar. You can grow sugar crystals yourself, plus add color and flavor to make rock candy that you can eat.
- MHAL - Make Rock Candy
- Kids' Stuff from the Michigan Historical Museum
- Science of Candy: Rock Candy Recipe
- When you make rock candy, you can see the shape of sugar crystals on a giant scale. The key is giving them lots of time (about 7 days) to grow. As the water evaporates, sugar crystals form on the string or stick.
- How to Grow Sugar Crystals
- The process of making sugar crystals is very similar to making salt crystals, but sugar crystals can be more fun because they're tasty treats. Try this recipe for your son or daughter's next science project.
Making Rock Candy Video
Crystal Growing Kits
Scientific Explorer's Ultimate Crystal Growing Science Kit
Amazon Price: $26.25 (as of 07/05/2009) 
Smithsonian Crystal Growing Set
Amazon Price: $27.47 (as of 07/05/2009)
crystal growing
Amazon Price: $14.10 (as of 07/05/2009)
Emerald & Topaz Crystal Mines and Crystal-Growing Kit
Amazon Price: $24.95 (as of 07/05/2009)
Advanced Crystal Growing Projects
- How to Grow Orange Potassium Dichromate Crystals
- Do you want crystals that are naturally bright and colorful? Grow orange crystals of potassium dichromate.
- Make Your Own Magic Rocks - Chemical Garden
- Learn about the chemistry behind magic rocks and make your own chemical crystal garden.
- Seed Crystal Instructions - How to Grow a Seed Crystal
- A seed crystal is a small single crystal that you use to grow a much larger crystal from a saturated crystal solution. This is how you can grow a seed crystal yourself.
- Piezoelectric Crystals - Rochelle Salt Crystal 1
- Piezoelectric crystals are fascinating - when physical stress is applied, these materials produce a voltage. The effect can be reversed as well, apply electricity, produce a stress/vibration.
Crystal Growing Videos
Books About Basic Chemistry
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byCrystal Photos on Flickr
A macro shot into the edge of a giant quartz specimen standing about 5 foot tall...
Taken in the macro mode, this is a section of an
6 cm quartz variety rock crystal from Brazil.
First time I've seen these beautiful crystals that I'd hear of but had not seen....
One of "my Precious", a new specimen of a crystal of chalcopyr...
Earthly Delights
the snow crystals had great shapes so I took a bunch of close ups.
Photomicrograph of some crystals of ordinary table salt. Best viewed at full si...
These crystals were grown with a mixture of water, salt, laundry bluing, and amm...
More Fun Science
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Fun Science - World in Pond Water
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Explore microscopic life in a local pond, marsh, or stream. A cup of water can contain millions of microorganisms.
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Lab Notes
Leave your comments, questions, etc.
bluewren56 wrote...
Great lens. Thanks for your tips. Always good to find new ideas on spending time with our kids.
Posted September 15, 2008
JJNW wrote...
Hi! What a neat page. I added a link to it on my Kids Science page. Hope it brings you some traffic :-).
Awesome! I will try these things with my homeschooled son. He will be jazzed!
Posted September 08, 2008
Barkely wrote...
My son loves anything science. We made crystals once and had a lot of fun. Thanks for adding this lens to the Fun For Kids group:)
Posted August 22, 2008
enslavedbyfaeries wrote...
How cool! Your lenses might just keep my girls busy for the rest of the summer. We are counting the days 'til school starts. (They love school and can't wait to go back.) Thanks for the great ideas!
Posted July 30, 2008
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