Explore simple chemistry for Valentine’s Day by growing salt crystal hearts. Explore the changes that happen using ordinary table salt as you grow simple crystals. We love holiday STEM and science and also love to explore Valentine’s Day themed chemistry experiments. Perfect for home or classroom!
GROWING SALT CRYSTAL HEARTS FOR CHEMISTRY
We have been having a fun time with this simple kitchen science experiment! Why do I use the term kitchen science? Because everything you need is in the kitchen.
Growing salt crystal hearts is all about salt and where do you find salt? In the kitchen cupboard of course! So easy and perfect for all ages of kids to work on together.
Simple Salt Crystal Growing Science for Kids!
You can also try making crystals with borax. They take less time to grow but are not as kid friendly to make.
GROW CRYSTAL HEARTS WITH BORAX TOO!
We have an awesome 14 DAYS of VALENTINE’S DAY STEM Countdown for kids!
Inside our Valentine’s Day STEM countdown you will find awesome but also simple to set up ideas for making slimes, structures, reactions, bubbles, and more for great Valentine’s Day science all month long.
GROWING SALT CRYSTAL HEARTS SUPPLIES
Open the cupboards and get set for a little kitchen science…
—>See them all here: Best Valentine’s Day Science for Kids
- SALT
- WATER
- MEASURING SPOON, SPOON, CONTAINER
- TRAY
- CONSTRUCTION PAPER HEARTS
MAKE A SATURATED SALT SOLUTION
Start with hot water. I just let the tap water run really hot. You can boil the water as well.
Tablespoon by tablespoon we added salt until the water could not hold anymore. The hotter the water, the more salt you will be able to add. The goal is to add as much salt as the water will hold to make a saturated solution.
Place your hearts on a tray or dish and pour just enough to cover the snowflake. You may even see some salt left over in your container, that’s ok!
Set your tray aside and wait and watch!
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: VALENTINE’S DAY CHEMISTRY PROJECTS
SALT CRYSTAL SCIENCE
Growing salt crystal hearts is all about chemistry! What is chemistry? The reaction or change that occurs between two substances such as the water and salt.
As the salt solution cools and the water evaporates the atoms {niacin and chlorine} are no longer separated by water molecules. They begin to bond together and then bond further forming the special cube-shaped crystal for salt.
Cool science doesn’t have to be expensive and can be done as easily in the classroom as it can be in the home! We love simple holiday-themed STEM activities that help reinforce simple science concepts with a holiday twist!
Take your paper hearts to the next level and grow salt crystals on them! Science all kids can do.
GROWING SALT CRYSTALS VALENTINE’S DAY CHEMISTRY
Click on the photos below to check out more of our Valentine’s Day ideas, Holiday STEM projects, and everyday STEM fun!
Marie
January 25, 2017 at 2:02 pmI love all the Valentine ideas! Great for kids ANS Seniors!
littlebins
January 25, 2017 at 2:25 pmAwesome thank you! Yes, I think seniors would definitely benefit from these ideas as well as kids and probable everyone in between!
Lorraine
February 12, 2018 at 9:35 pmI recently made the crystal hearts with my Montessori preschoolers. They enjoyed mixing the salt and water to make a solution and were amazed at the beautiful results! Thank you for this wonderful idea.
Cindy King
February 7, 2019 at 10:52 pmThank you for your ideas. I have really enjoyed reading through all of the creative projects.
I did want to suggest a slight revision to your explanation above regarding salt solubility. It is true that most solids do have increasing solubility with higher temperatures. However, table salt is not one of them… there is only about an increase of ~1g/100g of water if you heat the water up to boiling. So, it will not really help you get more dissolved to heat it up. BUT it might help speed up the dissolving rate a little as the water molecules would collide more frequently with the ions in the salt crystal.