Rock Candy Crystal Experiment
My kids love to have rock crystal candy sticks as a special treat. Did you know you can make your own at home with a few supplies to save yourself a trip to the candy store? It’s true! The kids will be amazed to see what happens after a few days of letting sugar coated sticks sit in more sugar and Kool Aid mix.
Warning: This activity does take six-seven days for the crystals to form, so plan ahead if you plan to enjoy these on a particular day.
Supplies
- Sugar (about three cups for three sticks, plus a little extra for dipping)
- Kool Aid (we happened to have one flavor on hand, you can experiment with as many as you’d like for more fun!)
- Sticks
- Water
- Mason Jars/Canning Jars
- Parchment Paper
- Clothespins (for as many jars as you are using)
Instructions
Dip the sticks into water, making sure they are fully wet. Then place the sticks into sugar, also making sure they are fully covered. Let them sit on parchment paper to dry.
Once sticks are dry, you will make the sugar water solution. You want one part water to three parts sugar. To start, use 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar over medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved. Add 2 more cups of sugar and continue cooking and stirring until it is dissolved. It is important to make sure all the sugar is dissolved or the candy won’t form.
Empty a package of Kool Aid mix to the jar(s) being used. If you plan to use more than one flavor, you will need to make the sugar solution over again for each flavor. We just used one flavor so we made it once.
Put the dried sticks in the Kool Aid sugar water. We used clothespins to keep them upright.
That is it – then let them sit for the time stated and see how the process evolves!
Once the kids realize how pretty easy they are to make at home, you might want to save this activity to repeat down the road. They are just as good as store bought (and more fun to make on your own!)
For more science experiments for kids, please check out our blog!
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Photographs and content by: Heather Kucenski
