How to grow sugar crystals at home: recipes with photos

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

When children are born in a family, parents begin to realize how little they know about this world. Why is the faucet beeping? How does the plane fly? Why is the sun yellow? All these questions will need to be answered. But the young researcher will not stop there. He needs to see exactly how certain processes occur. How ice freezes, how snowflakes form, how crystals grow. Satisfy the needs of the young know-it-all and make sugar crystals with him.

Chemistry in our house

If you have already managed to show your child a standard volcano made of soda, vinegar and gouache, and now you are looking for something else to surprise him, then our article is especially for you. Miracles will start to happen right next to you, and you don't have to spend a lot of money for this. All it takes is sugar, water and patience. Yes, sugar crystals don't grow in the blink of an eye. Forthis will take about two weeks. But every day they can be watched through the glass.

Visiting Santa Claus

That's what you could call this adventure. Sugar crystals most of all resemble bizarrely shaped ice icicles. If it's summer outside, and the children miss the winter wonders, then it's time to invite them to create a delicious miracle together. Sugar crystals are very beautiful. Sparkling with many facets, they beckon the sweet tooth. And of course they are delicious.

And making them is not difficult at all, but it takes a long time. Cooking will take about 20 minutes in the evening and the same in the morning. And then every day the children will, overtaking each other, run around to see how much their crystals have grown. Invite them to keep a diary of observations, let them take pictures, take measurements. Feel like real testers.

No age limit

The older the child gets, the harder he wants to do experiments. Therefore, edible snowflakes are of interest mainly to younger students. Give the elders something more complicated, like experiments with bright blue crystals of copper sulphate. But usually they, after grumbling a little, begin to observe the growth of snowflakes with curiosity. Preschoolers will also be happy to join in the observations. But the most important thing is that even if a child inadvertently breaks a jar, nothing bad will happen. Well, you won't get sugar crystals on a stick.

By the way, if you didn't succeed the first time, don't despair. You can try again, because sugarthe syrup is already ready. It can also be used to make jam.

What do you need?

If you are interested in how to make sugar crystals, then let's go directly to the necessary products and equipment. For the first time, you can get by with 3-4 things. If the kids really like the idea, then it will be possible to repeat the sweet miracle in double size. So, you need to cook:

• Sugar - 5 cups + 4 tablespoons.
• Water - 2 cups plus 3 tablespoons.
• Bamboo skewers - 4 pieces.
• Transparent glasses.
• Syrup pot.
• Cardboard to secure the skewer in the glass.
• Dyes optional.

Preparatory stage

First of all, you need to prepare the ground for the growth of crystals. They will not cling to a smooth stick, a substrate is needed. To do this, cook a little sugar syrup just from 2 tablespoons of sugar and 3 tablespoons of water. Stir until the grains are dissolved, then carefully grease the skewers with syrup. Not completely, but only to the length to which the growth of the icicle will extend. Sprinkle two more tablespoons of sugar on a sheet of paper and carefully roll our skewers in it. It is important that the grains adhere evenly over the entire surface. They will be the basis on which the crystals will grow.

That's all, leave to dry until the morning. This is also an important point, because if you immediately dip the sticks into the syrup, then the sugar adhering to them immediatelywill melt. And it should be preserved as a building frame.

Continue work

In the morning, our sticks dried out well, you can continue to work. So quickly write down how to grow sugar crystals.

• Pour water into the pot and put on fire.
• Pour in half of the sugar and stir until dissolved.
• Now it's time for the rest of the sugar. And also do not forget to stir until completely dissolved.

The rich syrup is ready. Let it stand for 15 minutes and cool slightly. Recipes for sugar crystals can also be mastered by schoolchildren, there is nothing complicated here. In the meantime, you need to prepare skewers on which magic icicles will grow. To do this, you need to cut out pieces from thick cardboard, a little larger in diameter than the prepared glasses. Insert prepared skewers into these pieces.

What are these cartons for? They have two tasks. They do not allow future crystals to come into contact with the walls and bottom of the glass and grow to them, and also protect the solution from dust. And the final touch. Pour hot syrup into glasses and place skewers in them.

Colors and flavors

Sugar crystals made at home may vary. Take cherry syrup from homemade compote instead of water - and the taste will be completely different. But then you will not be able to observe the growth of crystals through the walls of the glass. Of course, they can be raised above the surface andlower back.

But most often a small amount of food coloring is used. It must first be dissolved in water. A glass will require powder on the tip of a knife. Dissolve this amount in a tablespoon of water, then mix with syrup. But when the dye is added, the solution becomes less saturated and the crystals grow slightly smaller. Of course, this is not critical, but many agree that transparent icicles are the most interesting.

Observation

That's it, nothing more is required of you. Just check how it's growing. Believe me, it's very interesting. The very next day you can see that everything is working out. The first days it is better to observe and photograph through glass. But after a week, you can safely lift the stick, examine the emerging faces and lower it back into the solution. It will take at least 14 days for the crystal to turn out spectacular. Now you can get your personal crystals, the fruits of labor and many days of waiting. Take a picture, then you can eat them like regular candies, which they are. Children claim that they are much tastier than store-bought sucking sweets. This is not surprising, because they themselves created this miracle.

If the result is not visible

This is something that people who try to grow icicles for the first time encounter from time to time. The syrup is poured, the skewers are submerged, but nothing grows on them. And usually after a week of painful waiting, the syrup goes to something else, and the idea is considered a failure. Actuallymaybe the room is just cold. Under such conditions, the crystal will grow very slowly, but it will form stunning, cubic facets.

Growth can also be affected by temperature fluctuations. Try to keep them to a minimum. And another very common mistake when skewers are dipped in syrup, it should be slightly warm. Not cold, but not hot either. These points must be taken into account so that everything turns out just perfect for you. Surprisingly, adults make such sweets for children, but they themselves usually rush to check the contents of glasses in the morning even faster than children. That is a very exciting activity. And for the New Year holidays, you can make such crystals for all family members. Original DIY gift.

Instead of a conclusion

Today we looked at the recipe for sugar crystals on a stick. Amazing and magical, they will form before your eyes. Of course, this is just a candy, but the process of making it will be an excellent option for joint leisure of children and adults. Alternatively, you can try making a s alt crystal. The principle is exactly the same. The only difference is that you can't eat it afterwards. The s alt crystal grows a little faster, it turns out a kind, more voluminous, but very fragile. Therefore, it will not be possible to save it for memory. But it is quite possible to watch the construction process.