Sinister’s teacher was a little unsure of the message behind his ‘End of Year’ Gift for her. (read: not Christmas because we celebrate Solstice instead)

Sinister made a Crystal Star.

A Borax Crystal Star.

She was all, “Oh wow. It’s beautiful!”… until I mentioned that Borax is toxic and she needs to wash her hands after touching, and definitely before touching anything she plans to eat.

Her look of confusion was almost as beautiful as the star. I wonder if she understands how much Sinister liked her as teacher. He sure did go to a lot of effort to find the right science experiment for Ms A’s Solstice gift.

Make Your Own Crystal Star

Materials:

• Borax Powder (laundry section of supermarket);
• Hot water;
• Jar;
• Stick (we used a chopstick);
• Jar or large container – large enough to hold your star without it touching the sides or bottom;
• Pipe cleaners;
• Food colouring;
• String;
• Scissors.

Steps:

1. Cut/Shape pipe cleaner in to star shape. We had 3 med pieces criss-crossing like a snowflake star;
2. Tie a length of string to one ‘arm’ of the star. Tie the other end around the stick;
3. Dissolve the borax powder in boiling water, about 3 tablespoons per cup of water. Half fill the jar. Add a few drops of food colouring, considering the colours of your pipe-cleaners. Note: Borax powder is poisonous – wash your hands after touching it.
4. Place the stick across the top of the jar, so the star hangs into the borax water. Wait a few days for your star to grow – mind you, ours worked overnight.

And here’s one we prepared earlier!

Side note for spawnlings: The Borax powder dissolves in the water. When the water evaporates, the borax is left behind, attaching to the pipe cleaner ‘star’ as tiny crystals. Although it is feels moderately sturdy, the star still needs to be treated with care. Hanging from a tree or door is fine – swinging around like a Ninja-star, not so fine.

Categories: Curriculum of Evil

Evil Genius Mum

Evil Genius Mum
- Taking over the world, one blog post at a time