Crystal Garden Young Scientist Set

This was very easy to do with my son. I looked up some tips on the internet before starting. I used distilled water to reduce any contaminates from tap/filtered water, followed the instructions pretty much exactly, and got great results. Water temp got up to around 108 degrees (vs 112). We waited about 20 min for cooling before to transferring to the containers and another 30 min before adding the seeds. I kept them in our laundry room which stays pretty warm at around 74-75 degrees. I live in AZ so I didn't have to worry about humidity. The small and medium crystals were done around 3-4 days and the large at 5 days. They could have kept growing but there was some evaporation so they started sticking out of the water. Great kit! I plan on buying another one. The only down side is if you want to grow a large white crystal it limits the number of different colors you can make. I wish they would have included an extra white package so we could have made pink and light blue also. The red, blue, purple, and white turned out great though!

Excellent product. Your child will definitely will need help and supervision. My granddaughter was very excited as she watch the crystals forming for a period of seven days. There is enough material to repeat the experiment a few more times at a later time after the first and second set. She placed the crystals in their individual display clear boxes once they were washed. Very educational. There were lots of questions and answers going back and forth about the crystals. We did online research which she enjoyed. She is only 5 yrs old and was able to follow the instructions. A great bonding and fun educational moment.

I bought this set of crystals because it was the same brand as a previous crystal kit I had bought with tickets at an arcade. The first kit was awesome so I decided to give this a try. This kit says you can make 7 individual crystals. You can't make 7 big crystals, but you can make 1 big, 2 medium, and 4 small (OR you could make 3 big only. It is based on how much crystal seeding and powder they start you with) It says the colors are assorted but I'm willing to bet that every kit comes with 1 pack of white, 1 pack of blue, and 1 pack of red. The kit encourages you to mix red and blue to make purple and mix the blue or red with white to make pink or light blue. The image I have attached is what color you get when you mix red and white.

I think the reason some folks have trouble making these crystals grow is because they aren't following the directions exactly. I use filtered tap water that I measure and pour out of my brita. I heat the water on my stove in a pot. I stir in the bag of powder until it is all dissolved. I wait until it cools to add the seeding mixture (this set has you transfer the crystals from an opaque cup to a clear display cup for growing so you can make multiple at a time. I recommend this because the display cups are easier to see through, however, when you transfer the liquid you MUST wait 30 minutes for the contents to settle before you add the seeding crystals)

My grandson and I have been growing crystals for over 10 years, and the ones from this kit are amazing! The biggest factor you need is PATIENCE, and this kit will reward you amply. All the crystals grew larger than expected and the shapes were intriguing.

Since you just need to follow the directions exactly to get gorgeous crystals, I'll offer some advice on preserving them. After you have rinsed the crystals, let them sit until they're 100% dry (at least a week). Put tiny dots of white glue on the bottom of the crystal where it will touch the base, and gently place it on the base. Don't add the dome yet, but make sure your crystal isn't hanging over the edge of the base. Let the glue dry completely (patience, another week). Cover your surface with wax paper. Now add a small amount of white glue along 2 opposite edges of the base. Gently add the dome. Carefully wipe any glue that squishes out the bottom edge. Let it dry another week or so. Doing this will negate two of the most common killers of crystals--sliding around and dust.

This set is AWESOME! I highly recommend it! I purchased it to grow crystals in the office as a fun experiment to keep me entertained during busy season and it did not disappoint. You need to be sure to follow the instructions carefully. I made a fatal error on my first attempt and did not wait the full 30 minutes before I added the crystal seeding and nothing ended up growing. On the subsequent attempts I followed the instructions to a T and was able to grow beautiful crystals. I even ordered a second set because the results were astounding.

The steps are simple enough I was able to grow these in my office with ease. All you need is boiling water and the rest is provided in the kit. The first step is to dissolve the crystal mixture (it looks almost like sugar) into hot water. Next, you have to let it sit for 15 minutes, and then transfer it into a clear plastic container where the crystal will grow. WAIT ANOTHER 30 MINUTES after the water is transferred. This step is crucial otherwise the crystals will not grow.

Once you have waited the allotted time you drop in the crystal seeds. They provide blue, red, and white crystals so you can mix and match them to create different colored crystals. It seems that each type of crystal seed grows a different shape of crystal. I noticed that the red crystal seeds will grow more block-like crystals whereas the blue seeds will create more sharp/pointy crystals that flower out.