Did you know you can grow crystals with a common kitchen ingredient? You can grow salt crystals at home or in the classroom and give it a gingerbread man theme for Christmas science too. Our growing salt crystals gingerbread man science project is perfect for young scientists!

GROWING SALT CRYSTALS GINGERBREAD MAN SCIENCE PROJECT FOR KIDS

We usually grow crystals using a borax solution, but it can be even simpler than that! I bet you have exactly what you need for our growing salt crystals gingerbread man science project! I saw these awesome Salt Crystal Tree Ornaments and thought it would be a perfect experiment for our gingerbread man themed science unit!

CHECK OUT THIS GINGERBREAD MAN CRYSTAL SCIENCE ACTIVITY TOO!

MAKE SURE TO BOOKMARK ALL OUR CHRISTMAS SCIENCE!

From crystals to slime to ice melting to candy canes, we have simple to do science activities for Christmas.

Looking for easy to print activities, and inexpensive problem-based challenges? 

We have you covered…

—>>>  FREE STEM Activities For Christmas

LET’S GROW SALT CRYSTALS!

In keeping with our gingerbread man science theme, I thought making salt crystal gingerbread men would be a fun and simple activity to do the other morning. It’s super easy to set up but you do need to give it a couple of days to see great results.

YOU WILL NEED:

• Table Salt
• Very Hot Water
• Bowl/Spoon
• Construction Paper Cut-Outs
• Plate/Pan

I referred to my friend Danya on how she made her saltwater solution so check out her Salt Crystal Trees to read more about the process for creating the salt solution. She also has an extended science write up on the experiment.

Like our borax crystals gingerbread man and candy canes, we need to make a suspension solution. So you need a good amount of salt and hot water. Perfect for young kids to do with minimal adult help.

You will need to cut out some shapes too. We used our cookie cutters to trace out these gingerbread men, but you can also use any Christmas shapes {or any time of the year shapes} you want! There are a lot of fun activities you can do with cookie cutters!

Once you have mixed your salt solution, place your gingerbread man cutouts in a pan or dish. Pour the solution slowly over the gingerbread men until just covered.

Or you can do like my son and dump the whole solution onto them including a bit of clumpy salt that hadn’t been mixed in! This is because the solution was so saturated with salt that it couldn’t hold anymore which is also a great point to talk about it.

Place the dish or pan in a place where they might get some sunlight and not be disturbed. Now you have to wait for the water to evaporate. Have fun checking on them every so often and note any changes.

PRINT OUT: Science Experiment Printable Worksheet for Recording and Drawing Your Experiments!

Over time you will see the edges of the solution have evaporated quicker leaving the beginnings of salt crystals around the edges. Because of the amount of salt that was added, it did not completely dissolve in the water. As the water evaporates, it leaves behind the salt.

Looking for easy to print activities, and inexpensive problem-based challenges? 

We have you covered…

—>>>  FREE STEM Activities For Christmas

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Dissolving Gingerbread Man Cookie Experiment

IT’S CHEMISTRY!

My son noticed right away the cube shaped crystals left behind once the water completely evaporated. We transferred to a paper towel to let dry and it looked even more neat. Learn more about why they are cube shaped here. Simply when positive and negative ions bond together tightly they form the cube shape.

READ ABOUT: Homemade Christmas Slimes for Cool Chemistry!

Make sure to use a magnifying glass too! You will notice where we had that clumpy salt mixture drop onto the cut out. Next time we are going to make a real experiment out of it and test out our sea salt and epsom salt too!

Check out a closeup of the cube shaped salt crystals!

CHECK OUT: 25 Days of Christmas Science and STEM Countdown for Kids

Growing salt crystals gingerbread man science is a perfect kitchen science activity for Christmas! Our salt crystal gingerbread men were really fun to explore and observe and the set up was simple enough for both busy families and classrooms to fit into the day!

GROWING SALT CRYSTALS GINGERBREAD MAN SCIENCE ACTIVITY FOR A HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS!

Click on the photos below for more simple christmas science ideas for kids this season.