We don’t get a lot of snow where we live, but we do love it and anything to do with snowflakes during the winter. This year, we decided to bring some winter into our house with these pretty salt crystal snowflakes.
Salt crystal snowflakes are simple to make and so much fun, kids won’t even realize they’re learning about science too!
What you’ll need to make salt crystal snowflakes:
- Salt
- Mason jars (1 for each snowflake)
- pipe cleaners
- Clothes pins
(1 for each snowflake)
We had such fun making our salt crystal leaves, I knew our salt crystal snowflakes would be even prettier! We used off-brand salt to keep the costs low. Our salt container was less than $1!
Before letting your kids join you for this project, I recommend making the saltwater in advance. You will need to heat about 3 cups of water per mason jar (what we did was fill the jar and dump it into a pot).
When the water boils, start adding salt. Keep pouring it in until crystals start to form on the surface of the water. It will take almost the entire container of salt for three snowflakes.
When the water is cooling, let the kids design their own snowflakes from chenille stems. Make sure the snowflakes can fit easily through the mouth of each jar.
When the snowflakes are designed, attach a chenille stem hanger to the top of each snowflake so you can suspend it in the mason jar.
Suspend the snowflakes in the saltwater using a clothespin to hold them in place. Let the snowflakes sit in a sunny window for 2-3 days.
After 2-3 days, remove your snowflakes and let them dry. Your salt crystal snowflakes are ready! Hang them from a window or just admire their beautiful designs! My kids loved inspecting the snowflakes with a magnifying glass to see the individual crystals up close.
More fun activities for kids:
- Instant Ice – STEM experiment
- How to make Oobleck for Kids
- DIY Stress Ball for Kids
- How to Make a Glittery Underwater Volcano
- Seed Sprouting Indoor Activity
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Abigail Lopez says
Hi!! My daughter and I tried this but they didnt turn out how the picture looks. Do you know how long I let the water and salt boil for and do I stire it at all. Also do i let the salt water cool off in the pot before transferring to the mason jars? Thank you so much!
Abigail L.
Bhavna L says
Use Borax instead of salt. The crystals are translucent – prettier than the salt and works!
Kathy Nutter says
Can you use something besides chenille strips to make the snowflakes? Or is that the only thing they would stick to?
Scarlet says
What a fun crystal snowflake project for the kids. I love that it is focused on the season, crafty, and science related all at once:)
Erika says
Thank you, Scarlet!
Amy says
These are great! I can’t wait to try these with my kids. I just bought pipe cleaners so we can check it out! I wanted to let you know I featured this fun winter kids’ activity in my recent post: https://amysenter.com/january-pinterest-roundup/ Love the blog!
Erika says
Thanks, Amy!