You only need a little water, about ½ cup (120mL). Heat the water until it just begins to bubble.


Kids should ask an adult for help handling the hot water.
Distilled water gives the best results, but tap water should work fine.;
, There are many kinds of salts. Each one will grow into a different shape of crystal. Try these and see what happens:


Table salt take a few days to grow. "Iodized" salt won't work as well, but will still form crystals.Epsom salt grows into smaller, needle-like crystals, but grows more quickly than table salt. Buy it at a pharmacy.
Alum grow quickly, sometimes making visible crystals within a few hours.Find it in the spice section of a grocery store.
 Take the pan off the heat. Pour in about ¼–½ cup (60–120mL) of your salt and stir until the water is clear. If you don't see any salt grains in the water, stir in another spoonful. Keep stirring in more salt until you see salt grains that won't dissolve when you stir.


You've just made a supersaturated solution. This means the solution (the liquid) contains more salt than water can usually hold.
 Carefully pour the hot water into a jar or another clear, heat-safe container. This should be as clean as possible, so nothing interferes with the crystal growth.


Pour slowly and stop before the salt grains fall into the jar. If there are undissolved salt grains in the jar, the crystals might grow around those grains instead of your string.
 A couple drops of food coloring will change the color of your crystals. It might make the crystals smaller or more lumpy as well, but usually not by much.
 The pencil should be long enough to lie across the top of the jar. You can use a popsicle stick or small stick instead.


The tiny grooves and rough edges of the string provide a place for salt to latch on and grow.A fishing line won't work, since it's too smooth.
 Only the part of the string underneath the water will grow crystals. Cut it short enough to avoid touching the base of the jar, or the crystals might end up lumpy and small.
 The string should hang inside the jar, extending into the water. If the pencil won't stay still, tape it against the jar.


Try not to have the string touch the side of the jar. This can make smaller, lumpier crystals grow against the side.
 Keep the container where animals and young children can't get to it. Here are some tips for choosing a location:


To grow a lumpy mass of crystals quickly, keep the jar in the sun and/or keep a fan blowing near it on the lowest setting. These crystals may stop growing at a fairly small size.
If you want a single, large crystal instead of a clump of crystals, keep the jar in a cool, shaded place.Keep it on a Styrofoam pad or similar material to absorb vibrations.(There's still a good chance you'll end up with a clump, but there should be larger individual crystals within it.)
Epsom salt (and a few less common salts) will grow faster in the refrigerator instead of the sun.
 Check back regularly to see if salt crystals have grown on the string. Epsom salt or alum crystals can start growing within a few hours, but might take a couple days. Table salt usually takes a day or two to get started, and sometimes up to a week. Once you see little crystals on the string, those will usually keep growing bigger and bigger over the next couple weeks.


When the water cools, it has way more salt than cold water can normally hold. This makes it very unstable, so the dissolved salt will leave the water and grab onto the string if it gets a tiny push.As the water evaporates, the salt stays behind, making it even more unstable and encouraging the crystal to grow.
Heat a pan of water.
Choose your salt.
Stir in as much salt as you can.
Pour the water into a clean jar.
Add food coloring (optional).
Tie a string around a pencil.
Cut the string the correct size to dangle in the water.
Balance the pencil on top of the glass jar.
Move the jar to a safe place.
Wait for crystals to form.
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