Making Snowflakes

This has been a very unusual year here in the mountains, we have had very, very little snow.  So in the preschool we decided we were going to make our own snow.  I found this recipe that shows you how to make snowflakes from Borax and boiling water.  Here are the step by step instructions:

Start by boiling your water.  You don't really need to measure it at this point, you just need enought to fill a pint jar.

While your water is coming to a boil, you need to make a snowflake shape out of a pipe cleaner.  Here I used a white one so it would look like an actual snowflake. You then need to attach a piece of yarn to the snowflake and to a pencil or bamboo skewer so that you can suspend the snowflake in the Borax solution.  When we did this in the center, we used colored pipe cleaners.

Measure 1/3 of a cup of Borax.  Borax is an all natural laundry booster.  It is also used to clean many items in the home.  You can check out the 20 Mule Team website for other household tips.

Mix the boiling water and Borax completely.

Submerge the snowflake shaped pipe cleaner in the Borax water solution.

After the snowflake has been in the solution for a couple of days, it will begin to form crystals that attach to the pipe cleaner.

You can then remove the snowflakes from the solution and use them to decorate with.  They are not shelf stable, so they won't last forever, but you can enjoy them for the season.