rock candy crystals science experiment

Sugar Crystal Experiment

This is an absolutely sweet science experiment! Grow sugar crystals and make homemade rock candy with this simple chemistry experiment. We can show you how to set up a science fair project to go along with it! Growing sugar crystals is a fun and easy science experiment for kids. .

Incredible Edible Science

Who doesn’t love science you can eat ? Grow sugar crystals for tasty chemistry , and the kids will have a blast learning all about crystals!

Crystal science has fascinated humans for thousands of years. Many of our precious gemstones are formations of crystal. Check out other crystal science projects like our salt crystals and borax crystals. You can also make edible rock candy geodes .

This sugar crystal experiment uses the same saturation principles and makes a saturated solution to form the crystals. Growing crystals is fun for kids and teaches them about solutions, molecular bonds, patterns, and energy. All from two ingredients: sugar and water!

Oh, and of course, you can incorporate it into a geology lesson , too!

💡 You can eat these crystals when you are done growing them, making it even more fun!

How to Grow Sugar Crystals

Why do we call chemistry experiments like this kitchen science ? It is because all the needed supplies come straight out of the kitchen. Easy!

Note: You will need to set aside 8+ days to complete this sugar crystal experiment.

• 1 cup water
• 4 cups sugar
• Edible glitter
• Food coloring

Also check out more fun ideas for mason jar science! Once you set up your sugar crystal experiment, try a few more quick science in a jar ideas!

HOW TO MAKE SUGAR CRYSTALS

STEP 1. The day before starting your sugar crystal experiment, cut a piece of string a little longer than your jars. Tie one end of the string to a straw. Tie a knot in the other end.

Get the strings wet and coat them in sugar. Let them dry overnight.

STEP 2.   Add four cups of sugar and one cup of water to a saucepan the following day and heat until boiling. Heating the water to dissolve the sugar is the key to making your supersaturated solution.

Create the sugar solution: Heat water in a saucepan until it just begins to boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add granulated sugar to the hot water, stirring continuously, until no more sugar dissolves. Keep adding sugar and stirring until you see some sugar settling at the bottom of the saucepan without dissolving further. This indicates that you have a saturated solution.

STEP 3. Pour your sugar mixture into the jars. Add edible food coloring to each jar and add some edible glitter.

STEP 4. Lower the string into the jar and place the jars in a safe place. Leave the sugar crystals to form for at least a week.

SUGAR CRYSTALS: DAY 8

Once the sugar crystals are as big as you want them, remove them from the sugar solution. Lay them on a paper towel or plate and let them dry for several hours.

Inspect the sugar crystals with a magnifying glass or microscope when they are dry . How are the crystals similar? How are they different? What can you see in the microscope or with a magnifying glass that you can’t see with your eyes?

Fabulous, edible science is at your fingertips when you explore science in the kitchen with your kids!

FREE Geology Activities Guide

Just because it’s food or candy doesn’t mean you can’t apply the scientific method .

Sugar Crystal Science Fair Projects

Science projects are an excellent way for older kids to show what they know about science. They can also be used in various environments, including classrooms, homeschooling, clubs, and groups.

💡 Kids can take everything they have learned about using the scientific method , stating a hypothesis, creating variables , and analyzing and presenting data.

Want to turn this sugar crystals experiment into a cool sugar crystallization science project? Check out these helpful resources below. Take a look at the science fair project outline below to get started.

• Science Project Tips From A Teacher
• Science Fair Board Ideas
• Easy Science Fair Projects

Sample Science Procedure to Grow Sugar Crystals:

• Begin the project by explaining what crystals are and the process of crystallization. Take a look at different examples of sugar crystals to learn more.
• Formulate a hypothesis. For example, “I predict that crystals will grow faster/bigger in a solution with more sugar.”
• Prepare the different containers for growing crystals according to the steps above.
• Encourage kids to set up multiple containers with different variables to test.
• a. Vary the sugar concentration in the solution (e.g., 1 cup sugar:1 cup water, 1 cup sugar:1/2 cup water, etc.).
• b. Compare different types of sugar (granulated sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar).
• c. Test the effect of temperature by placing one container in the fridge and another in a warm place. d. Investigate the impact of time by checking the crystals’ growth at regular intervals (e.g., every day for a week).
• Have the kids observe the containers regularly and record them in a notebook. They should note changes in crystal size, shape, and formation patterns. Use our free science fair pack to help!
• Help the kids analyze their results and draw conclusions based on their observations.
• Discuss whether their hypotheses were supported and if they noticed any unexpected findings.
• Prepare a display board for the science fair, showcasing the experiment’s steps, observations, and results.

This project provides an excellent opportunity for kids to learn about the scientific method, observation, and the fascinating world of crystal formation while enjoying some sweet treats!

More Fun Edible Experiments

See if you can turn one of these science experiments into a science fair project!

• Strawberry DNA Extraction (not edible, but a great project)
• Make Edible Geodes
• Fizzing Lemonade
• Maple Syrup Snow Candy
• Homemade Butter
• Ice Cream In A Bag

Printable Science Projects For Kids

If you’re looking to grab all of our printable science projects in one convenient place plus exclusive worksheets and bonuses like a STEAM Project pack, our Science Project Pack is what you need! Over 300+ Pages!

• 90+ classic science activities  with journal pages, supply lists, set up and process, and science information.  NEW! Activity-specific observation pages!
• Best science practices posters  and our original science method process folders for extra alternatives!
• Be a Collector activities pack  introduces kids to the world of making collections through the eyes of a scientist. What will they collect first?
• Know the Words Science vocabulary pack  includes flashcards, crosswords, and word searches that illuminate keywords in the experiments!
• My science journal writing prompts  explore what it means to be a scientist!!
• Bonus STEAM Project Pack:  Art meets science with doable projects!
• Bonus Quick Grab Packs for Biology, Earth Science, Chemistry, and Physics

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Rock Candy Science Experiment: Step-by-Step How-To Guide

By: Author Hess UnAcademy Team

Posted on Last updated: September 18, 2023

Are you on the lookout for exciting and educational activities to enjoy with your curious little ones? Are your kids looking for a fun indoor activity that couples the wonders of science with the joys of eating? Well, we’ve got a treat for you—literally! A DIY rock candy science experiment is the perfect activity.

Homemade rock candy is a good example of a kid-friendly edible science experiment and it’s an example of an easy way to make homeschooling fun . It’s a fantastic hands-on activity that combines the joy of making delicious treats with the wonders of scientific discovery. Trust us, your kids will be buzzing with excitement, and you’ll be their official hero of the day!

Finding engaging and educational experiments can be a challenge. Sure, there’s no shortage of ideas out there, but finding the perfect balance between fun and learning can sometimes feel like searching for a needle in a haystack.

That’s why we’re share this rock candy science experiment—a delightful way to pique your child’s interest in science while indulging their sweet tooth.

Imagine watching your little ones’ eyes light up as they witness the magical transformation of simple ingredients into mouthwatering rock candy crystals. Not only will they be fascinated by the process, but they’ll also be absorbing essential scientific concepts without even realizing it. From crystallization to supersaturation, this experiment is a fantastic opportunity to spark their curiosity and set them on a path to becoming budding scientists.

Plus, let’s not forget about the joy of spending quality time with your kids. With the rock candy science experiment, you’ll be able to create lifelong memories as you bond over a shared love of exploration and delicious treats (adult supervision highly recommended). Whether it’s a rainy day activity or a weekend adventure, this experiment is sure to bring smiles, laughter, and a healthy dose of sugar-induced happiness to your household.

So, are you ready to dive into the captivating world of rock candy science? Stick around as we guide you through this step-by-step how-to guide, ensuring that you and your little scientists have a blast every step of the way. Get ready to transform ordinary sugar into a dazzling crystal creation that will not only satisfy their taste buds but also ignite their passion for learning. Let’s embark on this sweet journey together!

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DIY Rock Candy Science Experiment

My kids have always loved eating rock candy, but it never occurred to me to let them make some themselves. But the other day, I got a text from my sister-in-law with pictures of my cute little niece and nephew enjoying their own homemade rock candy. My other sister-in-law responded saying how fun that looked and she’d like to try it with her own daughter.

My kids, of course, didn’t want to be left out and asked to make their own rock candy. And I, being the awesomely fantastic homeschooling mom that I am, told them I’d do them one better. I told them we could turn a homemade rock candy adventure into a full-on DIY homemade rock candy science project, with the scientific method and everything!

The kids were thrilled. Anything to get them another dose of sweets, am I right?

STEAM activities are very popular in our household as is, but this one, in particular, was especially fun.

This article may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy for more details.

DIY Homemade Rock Candy Science Project

Because we wanted to use this science project to teach our kids the scientific method, we started by gathering them all together and having them decide what they wanted to learn or discover. What questions did they want to ask?

If you turn this adventure into a science project, you’ll want your kids to come up with a couple of questions as well. I made these handy scientific method worksheets for you to print off and use if you want, or you can use a notebook.

These are some of our favorite printable worksheets for kids so don’t miss out!

A few examples of questions we gave our kids include:

• What happens when you put a string in a high sugar concentrated solution?
• If food coloring is added to the solution will it change the result?
• Can layers of color be made with the candy?
• Can you add flavors beyond the straight sugar?
• Will a Kool-Aid solution do both color and flavor?
• Can you do crystals in a spherical setting like a chocolate ball?
• Does the ball need to be turned or stationary in the crystallization process…which gives a better result?
• Can you make a stalagmite candy with the same concept only in reverse?
• Will the results change if I use powdered sugar or brown sugar instead of granulated sugar?
• Will the results change if the string or stick starts out wet vs dry?
• Will sugar crystals grow if I use a sugar-water solution that has not been boiled (supersaturated solution)?

These are of course merely examples. Let your kids get creative and exercise their scientific minds! And don’t worry if a few kids pick duplicate questions, or if everybody picks the same. The real lesson here is the process.

NOTE – We plan on continuing this experiment over the course of the next year or so, updating it periodically as we experiment with other questions.

Our kids decided to answer the following questions:

• Spencer wanted to know if he could make stalactites and stalagmites out of sugar crystals.
• Nicole wanted to experiment with flavors and see what the difference is between plain rock candy crystals and flavored. She made a plain solution and one with vanilla extract.
• Eugene was very confused about the whole process and couldn’t grasp what we were trying to do, so he asked the question, “Will sugar crystals grow better with a supersaturated solution made from boiling water, or with the same ratio of sugar to water, but without the boiling?”
• Jennifer wanted to experiment with kool-aid and wanted to see if mixing kool-aid in the sugar-water solution would make flavored and colored rock candy crystals.

Now let the experiment begin!

How To Make Homemade Rock Candy

Ingredients For Homemade Rock Candy

• 2 Cups of water
• 6 Cups of sugar (white, granulated) plus some spare
• Optional – Food coloring (2 drops of food coloring per jar/cup)
• Optional – Flavoring extract (1 tsp)

Other Needed Materials

• Clean containers such as cups or mason jars
• Something to grow sugar crystals on, such as some string or a wooden skewer
• Something to hold the thing your crystals form on away from sides of the jar and bottom of the jar, such as a pencil or some clothespins
• Mixing spoon

Instructions For Making Rock Candy

• Make sure you gather your tools beforehand. You don’t want to let your sugar solution cool before you are ready.
• Put each measuring cup of water in the pot and heat it to boiling. Make sure your pot has a lot of space because the solution will expand quite a bit.
• Once you have boiling water, begin adding granulated sugar a little at a time.
• Keep mixing and heating until the sugar is completely dissolved. This took us about 20 minutes.
• Once the sugar is dissolved, divide your supersaturated solution into each cup or glass jar.
• Add your flavoring and/or your coloring now! Not too much, and make sure you mix well.
• Dip your string or wooden skewer into the supersaturated solution. Anchor it to the top of the container somehow. We used a string and a paperclip. Make sure the string isn’t touching the sides of the jar or the bottom of the jar .
• Put your sugar-water solution somewhere safe to sit for a few days. Watch and wait for your sugar crystals to grow. These are your rock candy crystals.
• It is unclear how long you need to let your sugar crystals grow for. Some of our cups had crystals after 2 days, others still looked pitiful after an entire week. My dad says when he was a kid, they used to wait for a month. I would recommend using seed crystals by rolling your (wet) string or skewer in granulated sugar before putting it in your supersaturated solution and see if that speeds things up.
• Enjoy your delicious food science project of homemade rock candy.

Our Rock Candy Science Project Results

Spencer (age 10) asked the following question: Can I make stalagmites and stalactites out of sugar crystals by hanging an absorbent material from one cup of sugar solution to another?

THE RESULTS: Using a sugar to water ratio of 3:1 with a strip of cotton fabric did not create stalagmites or stalactites. The cotton strip did not absorb sugar solution fast enough to get it dripping. I wonder if a ratio of 2:1 would work better? It’s also possible the cups were not filled enough. We will try this again.

As you can see, he still got some great candy crystals out of the experiment, the solution just didn’t crawl up the cloth and make crystal drippings.

Nicole (age 9) asked the following question: Can I flavor my sugar crystals by adding vanilla extract right before letting the rock candy crystals grow?

THE RESULTS: Yes,adding about 1 tsp of vanilla extract to the sugar solution after it has been boiled added a nice vanilla flavoring to the finished rock candy. I wonder what other flavors I could make in the future?

Eugene (age 7) asked the following question: Can I make sugar crystals without boiling the water and sugar solution?

THE RESULTS: No, merely mixing water and sugar without boiling will not create an environment that sugar crystals can grow in. It is important to make a supersaturated solution by boiling the water with the sugar.

Jennifer (age 6) asked the following question: Can I use Kool-Aid (or powdered other drink mix) to change the color and the flavor of my rock candy at the same time?

THE RESULTS: Yes, Kool-Aid (or other powdered drink mixes) will change the color and the flavor of the rock candy, while still allowing sugar crystals to grow. I wonder what other things I could add to the sugar crystals, such as soda for example, without killing the crystals?

Rock Candy Science Fair Project Explained

If you want to use this experiment as a science fair project, or if you want to teach your kids the why behind the experiment, I’ve explained it below.

When you first combined the boiling water with the multiple cups of sugar, you created a supersaturated solution of sugar-water. When the sugar-water is supersaturated like this, the water can only properly mix with (and hold) the sugar when both are very hot (boiling water and sugar).

As the hot water begins to cool it can no longer hold the sugar so the supersaturated solution begins to separate and the sugar crystals begin to cling to your skewer or string.

The sugar molecules that were originally on the string/skewer will act as seed crystals, where more sugar molecules from the sugar solution will cling until sugar crystals begin to grow. Some crystal growth will even happen on the side of the jar.

Feel free to use this activity as a simple science fair project . Your peers will be impressed with this tasty scientific experiment.

Or if you’re looking for another fun science project idea, what about something involving the science of slime ?

Enjoy making your very own edible rock candy science experiment!

And remember to grab your free worksheets!

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How to Make Rock Candy or Sugar Crystals   Recently updated !

Sugar crystals are called rock candy because these hard crystals are edible. Sugar (sucrose) crystals are one of the few types of crystals you can grow and eat. You can eat the natural clear crystals or you can color and flavor them.

Rock Candy Materials

You only need a few common kitchen materials for this crystal project:

• 3 cups sugar (sucrose)
• 1 cup boiling water
• food coloring (optional)
• flavoring (optional — good choices include cherry, peppermint, and cinnamon)
• clean glass or plastic jar
• wooden skewer or cotton string

You don’t need string or a skewer to grow sugar crystals, but they are good support structures for making rock candy sticks. Crystals also grow on pipe cleaners, but they probably aren’t food-friendly. The crystals also grow on the bottom and sides of their container, forming a confection that is known as Misri in India and Iran.

You can use different kinds of sugar, but avoid powdered sugar because it often contains anti-caking agents. Anti-caking agents don’t dissolve, so the tiny particles attract crystal growth. While this sounds like a good things, it means you’ll get a mass of small crystals rather than large crystals.

Grow Sugar Crystals

The procedure is really easy.

• Dissolve the sugar in the boiling water. Heat the sugar solution on the stove, or in the microwave if you have trouble getting the sugar to dissolve. Once the sugar dissolves, remove it from heat. If you keep heating it, it hardens and burns.
• Add a few drops of food coloring and flavor, if desired.
• Let the solution cool a bit before pouring it into your jar. You don’t want to get burned!
• Pour the sugar solution into a jar. Place a wooden skewer into the jar or else hang a string into the middle of the jar, tied to a pencil or butter knife.
• Place the container somewhere it won’t be disturbed. If you like, cover the jar with a paper towel or coffee filter to allow evaporation while keeping the crystal solution clean.
• It takes a few days to get good crystal growth. If you see crystals forming on the top of the jar, you can remove them and eat them. If you leave them, these crystals will compete with your stick or string for sugar and will reduce the size of your crystals.
• Remove the crystals and enjoy them! If you want to store the crystals before eating them, keep them in an airtight container so humidity in the air won’t make the rock candy sticky.

If you enjoyed growing sugar crystals, how about trying another easy crystal-growing project ?

How Long Does It Take to Grow Sugar Crystals?

Sugar crystals may appear overnight or it may take several days (weeks) for growth. Sugar crystal growth depends on three main factors:

• Solution Concentration : Crystals don’t start growing until you have a saturated solution , where no more sugar dissolves in the water. Whether or not the liquid is saturated depends on the amount of sugar in the water and the temperature. If you aren’t seeing crystal growth, try lowering the temperature. Refrigeration might do the trick!
• Temperature : Temperature determines when crystals start growing and how big they are. Slow cooling resulting in slower growth, but larger crystal formation. Similarly, quick cooling promotes crystal growth, but you get a mass of smaller crystals. Ideally, slowly cool the hot sugar water down to room temperature (or lower). Quick cooling doesn’t yield great results. Putting the liquid in a window causes temperature fluctuations, so crystals dissolve when it’s warm and form when it’s cool. Avoid the window.
• Humidity : Humid air contributes water to the liquid and slows crystal growth. Dry air evaporates water and aids crystal growth. If you aren’t seeing crystals, try improving air circulation or reducing humidity. The easiest solution is turning on a fan.

About Sugar Crystals

The white granular sugar you buy at the store is sucrose (C 12 H 22 O 11 ), which is a disaccharide consisting of glucose and fructose subunits. Raw sugar is usually golden or brown and contains some natural impurities, but still crystallizes. However, while pure sugar crystals are colorless, raw sugar crystals retain their color.

Sucrose contains covalent bonds and crystallizes using these bonds, too. The molecule crystalizes in the monoclinic space group. The resulting crystal is hard, brittle, and rigid. Examples of other crystals that contain covalent bonds are quartz and diamond.

• Beevers, C. A.; McDonald, T. R. R.; Robertson, J. H.; Stern, F. (1952). “The crystal structure of sucrose”. Acta Crystallogr . 5 (5): 689–90. doi: 10.1107/S0365110X52001908
• Hynes, R. C.; Le Page, Y. (1991). “Sucrose, a convenient test crystal for absolute structures”. Journal of Applied Crystallography . 24 (4): 352. doi: 10.1107/S0021889891002492
• Richardson, Tim (2002). Sweets: A History of Candy . Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-58234-229-0.

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Science Fun

Grow Rock Candy Crystal Science Experiment

In this fun and easy crystal science experiment, we’re going to grow rock candy crystals.  

Note: Since hot water in involved, please insure adult supervision is utilized.

• Measuring cups
• Clean glass jar
• Butter knife or popsicle stick
• Rough string or yarn
• Microwave safe container
• Food coloring

Instructions:

• Tie a piece of the string to the center of the popsicle stick. Lay the popsicle stick across the top of the jar. Let the string hang down inside the jar. Make sure the string does not touch the side or bottom of the jar.
• Add three cups of sugar to the microwave safe container.
• Now add one cup of water to the sugar.
• Use the spoon to mix the sugar and water.
• With adult supervision, microwave the sugar and water mixture for two minutes.
• Have the adult remove the container and use the spoon to carefully stir the hot sugar water solution. Be careful to avoid splatters as the solution is very hot!
• Now have the adult microwave the solution for another two minutes.
• Have the adult carefully and gently stir the hot solution one more time.
• If you like, add several drops of food coloring at this time to give your candy some color.
• Carefully have the adult pour the sugar solution into the clean glass jar.
• Now dip the string into the solution for several moments and allow the string to absorb some of the sugar solution.
• Lay the string on the wax paper to dry. Be sure the strings lays perpendicular to the pencil and forms the shape of a T.
• Once dry, lower the string into the jar of sugar solution. The solution will have thickened so carefully work the string down into the solution.
• Place a paper towel over the top of the jar to keep out dust and debris and allow the string to remain in the solution for a week.
• Look at the string throughout the week and observe any changes.
• After a week, remove the string and enjoy your sugar rock crystal candy!

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How it Works:

The sugar dissolves in the heated water. As the solution cools, it becomes less able to hold the dissolved sugar. The sugar then clings to string and forms the rock candy crystals. 

Make This A Science Project:

CAUTION: Do not eat – experiment making different solutions and record the rate at which crystals forms. Some ideas to test would be Epsom salts, Borax, and salt. 

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Growing A Jeweled Rose

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Rock Candy Experiment

ROCK CANDY EXPERIMENT FOR KIDS

• 2-3 cups of sugar
• 1 cup of water
• A jar or glass
• A large saucepan
• Clothespins 
• Food coloring
• Candy flavoring
• Combine equal parts of sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until all of the sugar is dissolved.

• Then, slowly add more sugar and mix,  slowly adding more sugar and mixing  until the sugar will no longer dissolve in the water.

• The water should start to look  a little cloudy .  That is when you know that no more sugar is dissolving and the perfect sugar-saturation has been reached. 
• The short version is that you are creating a saturated sugar solution, or a solution in which no more sugar can dissolve at a particular temperature.
• The amount of sugar verses water used should be  roughly 3:1 .  You can easily double & triple the recipe as long as you mantain a 3:1 ratio.
• Add  candy flavoring   if desired, and then continue to heat the water until it comes to a simmer. 
• Remove the sugar-water from the heat and allow it to cool. 
• Cut the  skewers  to a desirable size for the jar(s) that you are using.  Then, dip the sticks in water and roll them in sugar.

• Set the sugar-coated sticks aside and allow them to dry.  
• Once your sugar-water is cool enough pour it into jars, using one jar for each color of  rock candy  that you wish to make.  
• Once the sticks are dry carefully  place them into the jar(s).   

• You want to make sure that the sugar-coated sticks are  completely dry  before placing them in the jars.  
• The  rock candy  needs the sugar on the sticks to grow, and if the sugar isn't dry it will dissolve in the water.  
• It is also  important  to make sure that the sticks are not touching the bottom or sides of the jar.

• After day three we could really see growth!

• By day 5 my girls were dying to actually eat  rock candy , haha.  But, this was a great lesson in patience.

• After a week our  rock candy  was almost ready!  Just look at those beautiful jars!

• After a week your  rock candy  can be removed from the jars and enjoyed.
• You can  extend the fun  and  grow your rock candy  longer if desired.
• Once you and the kids are ready remove the candy sticks from the jar(s), and then place them on a clean surface to dry.  
• Once dry you will have  a yummy treat  to enjoy! 
• Rock Candy: What's Going On?
• Sugary Secrets: Candy Making Chemistry
• The Sweet Science of Candy Making

Growing a Jeweled Rose is a site packed with fun and educational activities for kids. Read more about us or catch up with our favorite posts .

More About the Author

Crystal Underwood is the writer and creator of Growing A Jeweled Rose. She has worked extensively with children and strongly believes in the importance of play at the core of early learning. She is passionate about the early years and believes that childhood should be a truly magical time in life. For all the best kids activities connect with Growing a Jeweled Rose below!

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How to Make Rock Candy Crystals with Kool-Aid

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I have a super fun kitchen science activity for you today~ How to Make Rock Candy with Kool-Aid. This is the perfect at home Summer project to do with kids right now. (See more Kitchen Science ideas!)

I took a lot of pictures of this project. They were just so pretty and colorful!

Rock candy crystals are easy to make, but take some time. You’ll need to plan ahead for this one! We let ours grow for 2 weeks.

To make them, you need just a few supplies.

Granulated sugar

6 inch Wooden Skewers

Jars or glasses

Kool-Aid packs in various flavors & colors

Clothespins

Preparing Your Sticks for the Rock Candy

We used wooden skewers. I cut the sharp tips off the top so nobody would get hurt when eating them!

Soak the sticks in water for 30 minutes to an hour. I places them into a cup of water and stick a bowl over the top to keep them down since they float!

Once they are fully wet, pull them out and roll the ends in sugar. Let them dry completely on a plate. This gives the sugar crystals a base to begin growing on the sticks.

Making the Sugar Syrup

In a large pot, combine sugar and water. You will want a lot of sugar. You’ll use about 2- 2 1/2 cups of sugar for every 1 cup of water.

To make 5 different flavors I used 8 cups of water and I believe 17 cups of sugar. (I kind of lost count towards the end!) The trick is to keep adding until the sugar does not dissolve anymore.

Cook until all of the sugar is completely dissolved and it comes just to a boil.

Remove from the heat and allow it to cool for 10-15 minutes (depending on the quantity you make it may take a little longer to cool.)

Pouring Sugar Syrup Into Mason Jars

Prepare your jars. Make sure they are clean and ready. Pour a packet of Kool-Aid into your jar.

With the flavor intensity, you definitely could split these Kool-Aid packets into two jars. We didn’t but there was a ton of flavor!

You can do this without Kool-aid, too! Just add in flavor extracts and add food coloring. The easy thing with using Kool-Aid is that it already has the color and flavoring.

Carefully pour the sugar solution into the jars and stir it well. It is tricky to get all of the Kool-Aid to dissolve. You can see from my pictures that mine was not fully dissolved, but it’s ok.

Attach the sticks to clothespins with the sugar side down. You don’t want the stick to touch the side or the bottom of the glass jar. If it does, the crystals will grow and attach them making it harder to remove.

When you put the sticks into the jar you’ll have to balance the clothespins of centered a little bit so they stay on top.

Now the waiting game begins. They take 10-14 days to grow fully.

I covered out jars with foil for the two weeks to keep them clean.

We peeked at them a lot over the days. Crystals form on the top of the jar and I broke them up every couple of days. You want to disturb them as little as possible, though.

When you finally decide to pull them out to eat, they will be drippy and messy. Just lay them on the side of the pan to drip dry.

Now you get to eat them! This is the best part. My kids all wanted to try all of the flavors.

Luckily there was a lot of crystal growth left in the bottom of the jars. They could all try the different flavors!

The Science Behind The Rock Candy Crystals:

When you make the sugar syrup for the rock candy, you are making a supersaturated solution. This means there is more sugar in it than can actually stay in there. It is unstable.

As the temperature decreases, the sugar comes out of the solution. This sugar forms into crystals.

We prepared the sticks for crystal growth by putting some sugar on it allowing the sugar to start attaching to it. These are called seed crystals.

The other thing going on with this is evaporation. During the 2-week period of crystal growth, water evaporates from the jars, too. As the water leaves, there is still more sugar available to grow on to the crystals.

Try Some More Kitchen Science Experiments:

Kitchen Science: Homemade Hard Candy Lollipops

Kitchen Science: Homemade Butter in a Jar

STEAM Kids in the Kitchen

Kitchen Chemistry: Cake Experiment

Acid Base Cabbage Juice Science Experiment

Former school teacher turned homeschool mom of 4 kids. Loves creating awesome hands-on creative learning ideas to make learning engaging and memorable for all kids!

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Can you add multiple sticks in each jar?

Yes, as long as they are not touching each other, They would grow together otherwise.

How long do they keep?

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Stay-at-home science project: Grow your own rock candy

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Posted on May 7, 2020 4:00 PM EDT

7 minute read

Welcome to PopSci’s at-home science projects series. On weekdays at noon, we’ll be posting new projects that use ingredients you can buy at the grocery store. Show us how it went by tagging your project on social media using #popsciprojects.

Any chef would agree that cooking is basically applied science and, unless you are an actual scientist working from home, your kitchen is the closest thing you’ve got to a lab. Following a recipe is essentially the same as running an experiment, and the best part is that you get to eat the delicious result. This project is no exception.

Making rock candy is easy—it only requires sugar, water, and patience. But if you don’t get your proportions right, you’ll be stuck waiting for crystals to form until the end of time. And that’s just sad.

Time: 30-40 minutes of prep, then up to two weeks of waiting

Difficulty: easy

What you’ll need

• 2 ½ cups of sugar
• 1 cup of water
• A pair of chopsticks (or any thin wooden stick)
• 2 (12-ounce) mason jars (or any heat-proof glass container with a similarly wide opening)
• Clothespins
• Paper towels
• (Optional) Food coloring of your choice
• (Optional) Food flavoring of your choice

Instructions

1. Bring the water to a boil . Needless to say, this step should be performed by an adult to avoid any burns. Once the first bubbles start to appear, turn the heat to low.

2. Pour the sugar in to create a supersaturated solution. Do it slowly and keep stirring until all the crystals have dissolved. Eventually, you’ll feel like you’re inhaling some of the sugar in the steam—keep going. They don’t call it supersaturated for nothing.

• Note: The amounts of water and sugar in this formula will be good for two rock candy sticks. If you want to make more, increase the quantities, making sure to maintain the same 2.5-to-1 ratio of sugar and water. This, as you’ll see later, is crucial.

3. Let your solution cool down to room temperature. You can leave it in the pot or pour it directly into the mason jars. Moving it to the jars will accelerate the cooling process.

4. (Optional) Add color and flavoring. If you want to give your rock candy some color, put a couple drops of food coloring into the solution and stir. How much you use will depend on how vibrant you want the color to be. This is also the time to add flavorings. Again, how much you use will depend on how intense you want the flavor to be.

• Note: If you want each piece of candy to be a different color or flavor, pour the solution into your mason jars and add the attributes of your choice to each one.

5. Wet your sticks. Separate your chopsticks and put them in a glass of water. How deep you’ll need to submerge them will depend on the size of your mason jars and the amount of solution you made. For 12-ounce jars, dunk your chopsticks up to a third of their length. Then, take them back out.

6. Dip the wet ends of your chopsticks in sugar. Pour some sugar on a plate and roll those sticks around in it. Make sure they pick up as many crystals as possible.

7. Let the chopsticks dry for a couple minutes. If you can, place them on top of something so the sugar-covered end stays in the air.

8. Prep your mason jars. If you haven’t already, pour any food coloring and flavoring into the mason jars and fill them with the sugar solution. Make sure each jar has enough to fully submerge the sugar-coated ends of your chopsticks. You won’t need the lid, but if it helps, twist the band shut to make the opening smaller.

9. Put one chopstick in each mason jar. The sugar-covered end should be totally submerged. Hold the clean end with your fingers and make sure the stick doesn’t touch the bottom or the walls of the jar. If it does, crystals will grow between the wood and the glass and good luck trying to get your candy out later. Secure it in place with a clothespin. Repeat this step for the second jar.

• Note: This is why the size of the jar’s opening matters. If it’s too wide, the clothespin will fall into the solution and the chopstick will rest against one of the sides of the jar. You definitely don’t want this. If you can’t find clothespins big enough, you can use two. We even tried tying a piece of yarn to the chopstick and keeping it in place by pulling it tight and securing both ends with the band. Reaching a balance is tricky though, since the chopstick will tend to lean to one side of the yarn, but it’ll do the trick in a pinch.

10. Cover your jars with paper towels. This is just to make sure nothing funky falls into your jar and gets fossilized in the sugar . Fold the paper towel in two and, using scissors, make a small cut in the center to put the chopstick through.

11. Wait. Growing rock candy is a slow process. You’ll start to see some crystals by day two, but they will reach their peak growth after two weeks.

12. Get your candy. Whenever you’re satisfied with the size of your rock candy, feel free to release it. Using a spoon, break the sugar layer on top and move the chopstick around to get it out. If for some reason there are crystals attaching the stick to the jar, an adult can use a knife to chisel it out carefully.

How it works

Water’s ability to dissolve sugar changes with temperature. That’s why if you pour two packets of sugar into a cup of hot tea, the crystals dissolve almost immediately. If you put it in a cup of iced tea, though, some crystals will sink to the bottom.

At room temperature, water is only capable of dissolving around 67 percent of the sugar you pour into it—that specific saturation at that particular temperature is thermodynamic equilibrium.

“When the concentration is less than 67 percent, any crystals you add to the solution will dissolve trying to reach thermodynamic equilibrium,” explains Richard W. Hartel, a food engineering professor in the food science department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Room-temperature water with a sugar concentration any higher than that makes a supersaturated solution. We need that type of high concentration to grow our crystals. But in order for so little water to dissolve such a large amount of sugar (2.5 cups!) we need to boil the water first.

When the solution cools to room temperature, its sugar concentration will remain the same as when it was boiling—approximately 75 percent. At that point, sugar molecules in the solution will try to reach equilibrium by lowering the concentration to 67 percent. They do this by going back to their original state.

“In liquid form, the sugar molecules have a lot of energy as they bounce around. But when constrained in a crystal lattice, their energy is low,” says Hartel.

The sugar on your chopsticks makes it easier for crystals to grow around them, but (as you’ll see) they’ll also form on the walls of the mason jar and even on the very surface of the solution.

After about two weeks, when the sugar concentration has reached 67 percent, crystals will stop growing and your rock candy will be as big as it can be. Chisel those crystals like you’re unearthing an ancient treasure, and enjoy.

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Science News Explores

Big rock candy science.

Every sugar crystal needs to grow from a ‘seed’

Does dipping sticks in sugar make a difference when make rock candy? Here’s an experiment to help you find out.

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By Bethany Brookshire

March 5, 2019 at 6:30 am

This article is one of a series of Experiments meant to teach students about how science is done, from generating a hypothesis to designing an experiment to analyzing the results with statistics. You can repeat the steps here and compare your results — or use this as inspiration to design your own experiment. 

Making rock candy at home is a tasty way to show chemistry in action. But the instructions contain a step that seems a bit odd. You’re supposed to dip your candy stick or string in sugar at the start of the process. Doesn’t that seem like cheating somehow? And is it really necessary? I did an experiment to find out. It turns out that that sugar dip is definitely required. If you want any rock candy to eat, anyway.

It’s easy to make rock candy. All you need is a lot of sugar, some water and a little patience. Pour three cups of sugar into one cup of water, and bring your mix to a boil while you stir. Once the mix boils, the sugar will dissolve into the water. It quickly forms a clear solution. Pour the syrupy mixture into a glass. Hang a stick or string in the mix. Then walk away.

After a few days or a week, sugar crystals will have built up on the string, making a sticky-sweet candy. But the candy doesn’t look like the sugar you started with. The sugar molecules have instead become highly organized into a crystal structure.

A key step in this process is wetting the string or stick and then dipping it in sugar. The sugar clinging to the string or stick serves as a seed crystal . This is a crystal that promotes the growth of the bigger crystals of the rock candy.

Sugar molecules crystallize in a solution when they bump into each other and stick together. This first phase is called nucleation. Once a tiny crystal forms, it serves as a nucleation point. Other sugar molecules then glom on to it and make the crystal bigger. Seed crystals in the rock candy mix serve as this nucleation point, making the rock candy form faster.

How important are those seed crystals, though? To find out, I ran an experiment.

Seedy science

Every experiment starts with a hypothesis — a statement that can be tested. In this case, I’m testing whether seed crystals promote more rock candy formation. My hypothesis will be that using sticks with seed crystals will produce more rock candy than sticks without .

To test this hypothesis, I made two batches of rock candy. One batch, colored blue, will have no crystal seeding. I just put a clean stick into my sugar solution. This batch was my control — where nothing changes. The other batch, colored red, had sticks dipped in sugar before I put them in the sugar solution. To be able to measure if the seed crystals make a difference, I weighed the sticks (and the sugar on them) at the beginning and end of the experiment.

I wanted to make sure I had enough candy to be able to detect a difference in my samples. To do this, I would need to make 26 rock candy cups for each condition, for a total of 52 cups. That’s a lot. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough sugar. I ended up with nine cups in each group.

Here’s how to make this rock candy:

• Take 18 clean pieces of string or wooden skewers, like the ones used to grill kebabs. Set half aside. For the other half, dip the last 12.7 centimeters (5 inches) of the end of the skewer or string into a cup of clean water, then roll it in a small pile of sugar. Set each aside to dry. (If you want to eat your experimental results, make sure you use the blunt ends of the skewers, so you don’t end up poking yourself in the mouth.)
• Set out 18 clear plastic or glass cups.
• Meanwhile, bring 4 cups (946 grams) of water and 12 cups (2.4 kilograms) of sugar to a boil in a pot, stirring. Keep an eye on your mix. I walked out on mine, and my sugary solution boiled over and soaked my floor in a sticky mess. Lesson learned.
• Once the solution is clear, add food coloring to get the desired color. I used blue for my control, and red for my seed crystal-covered skewers.
• Using a measuring cup, pour 250 milliliters (8.4 fluid ounces) of the solution into each cup. You should have enough for about nine cups of blue.
• Use a scale to find the mass of each stick in grams (each of mine weighed about two grams). Once you have noted the mass, dip the stick carefully into a cup of the sugar solution, and secure it in place. Make sure the stick does not touch the bottom or sides of the cup. I taped my grill skewer to another skewer placed across each cup. But you can also use pieces of string that are tied to a skewer and dangle down into the solution.
• Make another batch of your solution, this time coloring it red, and using your seeded skewers. Make sure to weigh each skewer before you dip it in the solution.
• Put all your cups in a cool dry place where they will not be disturbed.

After a day or so, you might be able to see crystals beginning to grow. The longer you leave the experiment, the bigger your crystals will get, but three days is enough to detect a difference.

After three or more days, get out your scale again. Carefully crack the sugary film on top of each cup with a spoon (this part is very satisfying). Remove the stick or string in the cup, make sure it’s not dripping, and weigh it.

Sweet, sweet results

To find out how much rock candy I got in each group, I subtracted the weight of the stick at the beginning of the experiment from the weight of the stick and candy at the end. This gave me a measure of crystal growth in grams. I made a spreadsheet with the average mass of crystals from both conditions. At the bottom of each column, I calculated the mean — the average crystal mass — for each group.

My unseeded sticks grew 1.3 grams of rock candy on average. It didn’t look like a very tasty treat.

My seeded sticks, however, grew about 4.8 grams of rock candy on average. It wasn’t a lot, but it definitely looked like dessert.

But were these two groups truly different? To find out, I needed to run some statistics — tests to interpret the meaning of my results. I used a t test . This is a test that finds differences between two groups. There are free programs that will let you put in your data and run these tests. I used one from Graphpad Prism .

A t test will give you a p value . This is a probability measure. In this case, it’s a measure of how likely it is that I would find by accident alone a difference as big as the one I found. A p value of less than 0.05 (or five percent) is considered by many scientists to be statistically significant. My p value was 0.00003. That’s a 0.003 percent chance that this difference happened by chance. That seemed pretty good.

But I also wanted to find out how big the difference was. I used a measure called Cohen’s d . For this, I needed a standard deviation — a measure of how much my data spread out around the mean (a previous post has more detail ). I used another free online calculator for this calculation.

My Cohen’s d for this experiment was 2.19. Generally, scientists count any Cohen’s d above 0.8 as a large difference. So my difference was pretty large. I made a graph of my results. 

Based on the results of my experiment, it’s clear that those tiny seed crystals are an important rock candy hack. My hypothesis was that using sticks with seed crystals will produce more rock candy than sticks without . This experiment supports that hypothesis. 

This study had limitations, though — things I could have done better. I had only nine cups per groups, which is definitely not enough. Next time, I need more sugar and more cups. In addition, while I looked at the total mass of the rock candy, I didn’t look at how fast it formed. I would need to weigh my candy every day of the experiment to look at the speed of my candy crystal formations. I clearly need to do more experiments. I guess I’ll just have to make more rock candy.

Materials List

Granulated sugar (3 bags, $6.36 each)

Grill skewers (pack of 100, $4.99)

Clear plastic cups (pack of 100, $6.17)

Large pot (4 quarts, $11.99)

Measuring cups ($7.46)

Scotch tape ($1.99)

Food coloring ($3.66)

Roll of paper towels ($0.98)

Nitrile or latex gloves ($4.24)

Small digital scale ($11.85)

Note: This story has been updated to correct a numerical conversion error in the methods section.

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Grow Rock Candy Crystals: A Sweet & Fun Science Experiment

By tracy diane jones ⇢ tue june 9, 2009.

Have fun with your kids learning about geology and making a sweet treat, too! Grow rock candy crystals like a pro with our easy experiment instructions. Rock Candy is like an igneous rock . The process begins by melting sugar in boiling water creating a solution, much like the magma inside a volcano. As the water sits and cools, it forms crystals much like cooling magma forms crystals of a rock. For added fun, try coloring your “magma” solution for an exciting and tasty final rock!

SAFETY FIRST!  Please get an adult to help boil and handle the water and scissors.  Do not spill sugar on the burner as it can cause a flame.

Ingredients for your Rock Candy:

• Clean Glass Jar
• Cotton String
• 1-2 Cups boiling water (have an adult help boil the water )
• 2-4 Cups white sugar (use approximately twice as much sugar as water)
• Stirring spoon
•  Notebook
• Tape (optional)
• Camera (optional)

How to Grow Rock Candy Crystals:

Step 1:   Have an adult place the water in a saucepan and heat over medium.  Sugar will dissolve better if the water is boiling or almost boiling.  Stir sugar into the water ¼ C at a time.  Completely dissolve the sugar into the water following each addition.  You will know that the sugar is dissolved if the solution is clear and no crystals remain.  If you see sugar crystals in the bottom of your pan that will not dissolve, you have saturated your water.  Set the pan aside to cool while you prepare the jar and string.

Step 2:   Tie a piece of string to a pencil and hang the string in the glass jar.  If your string is not rough, have an adult fray the string slightly with scissors.  Rest the pencil across the top of your jar and tape it in place if necessary.  Make sure that the string does not touch the bottom or sides of the jar.

Step 3:   Once the sugar solut i on has cooled for 10-15 minutes pour the solution into the glass jar.  Cover lightly with a tissue and place the jar in a cool location out of the way.

Step 4:   Leave the string in place overnight for small crystals.  Leave the string in place for several days or weeks to grow large crystals.  Sugar crystals grow best in a cool location with low humidity.  Do not move the jar or remove the string often because it can slow the crystal growth. To grow the largest crystals, replace the sugar solution every few days.

Observe: Check the growth of your crystal candy periodically.  Document your experiment in your notebook daily with notes, drawings, and/or photos.  We would love to see photos of your crystals!

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Filed under: Geology / Earth Science , Geology Experiments & Activities , Rocks - Igneous, Sedimentary & Metamorphic

Rock Candy Experiment for Kids- The Fastest Way to Make Rock Candy!

Categories Science Experiments

One of the best crystal experiments to try with kids is the rock candy experiment for kids ! It’s edible, fun and takes just 2 main ingredients.

My kids love making all kinds of crystals, and this time, we wanted to experiment with making an edible crystal.

The kids had a blast making the rock candy- and eating it was fun, too!

Fast Rock Candy Crystal Experiment for Kids

Follow along with these directions to do the rock candy science experiment and learn how to make rock candy fast!

What is the Fastest Way to Make Rock Candy?

Rock candy can take weeks to make. Sugar crystals are some of the slowest crystals to form. However, there is a way to speed up the process.

Using an extra super-saturated solution and heating the sugar to just below the soft candy stage will produce rock candy in a fraction of the time- in just 1-2 days!

Making rock candy is one of our favorite classic science fair projects !

What Do I Need to Make Rock Candy Crystals?

Shop these Amazon affiliate links to make sure you have everything you need to do the rock candy experiment!

What You Need for a Science Fair

You’ll want to have these supplies on hand before doing your science fair project. Shop the included Amazon storefronts to make things easier and don’t forget to download the free science fair planning checklist before getting started!

Science Fair Project Planning

When you’re planning your project, you want to keep everything organized. Click the image below to get my free science fair project checklist so you can start organizing your project from the start.

You may also want to check out this list of science fair project research supplies.

Supplies for a Science Fair Project

There are so many supplies for science fair projects that are individual to each project, but if you want a general list of possible supplies and inspiration for your project, check out my selection of science fair experiment supplies on Amazon.

Supplies for a Science Fair Presentation

Your science fair presentation is important! It should look presentable and eye-catching. Check out this list of my favorite science fair presentation supplies.

Rock Candy Experiment Worksheet

This rock candy experiment was first released as part of the Jarring Science Club. Join the Jarring Science Club and get access to the rock candy experiment worksheets as well as a complete lesson guide, quizzes, exclusive video content, and more!

Plus, club members get access to 100s of other science experiment worksheets and lessons that make science lesson planning a breeze! Join now and get the rock candy experiment lesson plan!

How to Do the Rock Candy Experiment for Kids

What is the fastest way to make rock candy? Find out in this rock candy experiment for kids! Make edible rock crystals in record time!

Make seed crystals by dipping your coffee stirrers into water and then dipping them into sugar. Let these completely dry before you add the sugar solution.

Heat 4 cups of water and 8 cups of sugar on the stove. Add the sugar in one cup at a time and stir until completely dissolved. By the end, your sugar will make a mountain before dissolving.

Boil the sugar the whole time you’re adding new sugar. When all the sugar is dissolved, take the sugar solution off the stove.

Pour the sugar solution into jars. Add desired food coloring to each jar and stir.

Suspend the sugared coffee stirrers in the middle of the sugar solution with a clothespin. Lay the clothespin across the top of the jars to hold the coffee stirrers in place.

This will help encourage the sugar to grow on the sticks and not on the bottom of the jar.

Wait 24-48 hours for the sugar crystals to form on the sticks. A couple of times a day, move the sticks up and down vertically so that they don’t stick to the bottom of the jar and to break up any crust that forms on the surface of the sugar solution.

When the crystals have formed, remove them from the jar and set on a paper towel to dry.

Once the sugar is dry, inspect it to see what sugar crystals look like. You can also taste it, too!

The reason these sugar crystals form faster than some recipes is because we made a supersatrated solution with sugar. This speeds up the time it takes the crystals to form.

More Crystal Experiments

Edible Sugar Crystal Science Experiment for Kids

Growing Crystals with Bluing and Ammonia- Complete Science Lesson!

Borax Crystals Science Project

Borax free crystals

Share this project with a friend!

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Rock Candy Science Project

Methods of Making Crystals for a Kids Science Experiment

Rock candy is a delicious treat which can teach students about the science principle of how crystals form. Rock candy projects take about 10 days from start to finish, and can be done either in class or as a take-home assignment where students observe the project at home. Conclude the project by allowing students to show-off their individual projects and enjoy their hard work.

Explanation

According to Exploratorium, crystals can form in two ways—precipitation or evaporation. Supersaturated sugar solutions contain more sugar than liquid. As the solution cools the sugar forms on the string and precipitates, attaching to the string.

Evaporation occurs over time when the water leaves the solution. In this method the rock candy crystals grow molecule by molecule. According to Exploratorium, after the crystals have grown for a week there will be about a quadrillion crystal molecules attached to the string.

For each rock candy specimen you will need two cups of boiling water and four cups of sugar. While on medium heat, stir in the sugar until it has completely dissolved and returned to a rolling boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the sugar mixture into a glass jar. Cut a piece of cotton string about the size of the glass jar; tie a washer to one end and a pencil to the other end. Dip the string into the sugar mixture until fully saturated; set aside on a piece of wax paper for a few days. Cover the jar with a piece of wax paper.

Place the dried string into the sugar mixture, washer side down, the pencil lying across the top of the jar. Within the first few days you should notice crystals forming on the string. Set the jar aside for about a week or until the rock candy is your desired size.

According to Exploratorium, crystals grow quicker in places where a crystal has already formed. As the water evaporates from the dipped string, small sugar crystals, also known as “seed crystals” are left behind on the string. The seed crystals encourage the growth of more crystals, and will continue growing until the string is removed from the sugar solution and rinsed with water.

Expert Insight

According to Baking 911, rock candy can be colored or flavored by adding ¼ teaspoon of food coloring and ¼ teaspoon of oil-based flavoring such as lemon or spearmint to the sugar mixture before it cools. Once cooled do not stir the sugar solution; jarring the solution breaks down the crystals and prevents larger crystals from forming.

Teach students about the scientific method while conducting this class project. Encourage students to conduct background research on crystal formation and then construct a hypothesis. Perform the experiment and retest with alterations. Allow students to analyze the results and conclude whether or not their hypothesis was correct. Once the project has been completed, allow students to record their results in written projects, display boards or oral reports.

Related Articles

How to make rock candy at school, how to make salt crystals at home, how does a sugar crystal grow, how to make a 1% sucrose solution, how does salt crystallize, how to remove sugar from water, how to make oxalic acid, how to make a supersaturated solution, what can we use instead of liquid bluing for crystal..., how to make a supersaturated solution with sugar, how to make salt crystallize, fourth-grade science projects with rocks, how to make crystals out of salt, how to make glowing crystals, uses of alum crystals, different osazone crystals, how to make crystals with epsom salt.

• Science Buddies: Scientific Method
• Exploratorium: Rock Candy
• Exploratorium: What Makes the Crystals Grow?
• Exploratorium: Why Does the String Need to be Soaked & then Dried?

About the Author

Daniella Lauren has worked with eHow and various new media sites as a freelance writer since 2009. Her work covers topics in education, business, and home and garden. Daniella holds a Master of Science in elementary education and a Bachelor of Arts in history from Pensacola Christian College.

Photo Credits

Crystals in Glass image by Vanessa van Rensburg from Fotolia.com

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Apr 19, 2021 · Modified: Jul 16, 2021 by Sues · This post may contain affiliate links, uses cookies, and generates income via ads · View privacy policy + disclosure statement linked in footer · 91 Comments

How to Make Rock Candy

Homemade rock candy is easy to make! It simply requires a little bit of patience and a whole lot of sugar. Whether you're making the sweet treat to enjoy for dessert or as a science experiment to do with your kids, you'll be amazed at how fun DIY rock candy is.

This post was first published in August 2011, but has been updated with much improved instructions and new photos in 2021.

So, you want to make your own rock candy? Yay! I first wrote this tutorial back in 2011 when I decided I wanted to make rock candy as table decor for my wedding.

Well, let's just say once I attempted actually making rock candy I realized that was not going to happen for several reasons:

• Rock candy requires A LOT of sugar to make. If I wanted 200 sticks of rock candy, it would take about 200 cups of sugar (that's if I re-used each sugar solution one time).
• Rock candy requires time and patience to make. In the quantities I wanted, I should have started making my rock candy at least a year in advance and would have been working on it nearly every day during that time.
• I'd have to live with mason jars of rock candy growing all over my (at the time) tiny apartment.

Needless to say, I did not make rock candy for my wedding.

But 10 years later, I've decided to update this post because my initial rock candy instructions were not that great- I shared my experience with you, but my results weren't ideal.

I've recently started making rock candy again and now have a process down that should work for everyone!

I've also included lots of FAQs that I've received over the years, along with some tips and tricks to make DIY rock candy making easier for you.

What is Rock Candy?

Rock candy is sometimes called "sugar candy" and for good reason! It's actually made completely of large sugar crystals. It often comes in pretty colors and is sold in all kinds of candy stores.

If you've ever made simple syrup before, making rock candy is similar... Except you'll oversaturate the syrup solution (AKA add too much sugar to it) and then let it cool and rest so sugar crystals can form.

Because the solution is supersaturated, that means it can't possibly absorb the sugar at the cooler temperature. Therefore, as the solution cools, it becomes unstable and all the sugar can't stay in the liquid, so it attaches itself to the skewer.

Why Should I Make My Own?

Of course you can easily purchase rock candy in a store or online, but making your own is fun. Whether you want to enjoy it yourself or give it out as gifts, it's easy to do. But if you need it in bulk for wedding decor, you'll want to plan VERY well in advance!

Another reason to make your own rock candy is because it's a great science experiment. You and your kids can learn all about the process of crystallization and different saturations of solutions.

Also, rock candy makes for super fun cocktails (you can also make fun mocktails for your kids)!

In conjunction with making rock candy, you may also want to try making other candies, like homemade fudge and gummy candy. Here's a great guide to sugar chemistry .

How Long Does it Take to Make?

The solution for rock candy is really easy to make and doesn't take long at all. BUT once you make the solution, you need to let it sit for 6-7 days so the crystals can form.

So, yes you need some patience. But it's also fun because you can check on your jars every day to see how your crystals are growing!

Equipment Needed

You may already have everything you need to make your own rock candy as it only requires a couple simple ingredients and a few household items. Here's what you need:

• Granulated Sugar (for 5 sticks of candy, you'll need 10 cups)
• Food coloring (if you want to add color to your candy)
• Mason jars or other receptacles to hold sugar solution. I recommend a standard 16 oz. mason jar .
• Skewers or sticks to make rock candy on. I use a simple wooden kabob skewer . But you can actually buy rock candy sticks to use for a more professional look.
• Clothespins or chip clips to balance stick on jar (you can't let the stick touch the bottom of the jar).

This "recipe" will make 5 sticks of rock candy. Since the candy will all grow in separate jars, you can make a variety of colors with this one recipe. I like to keep at least one jar clear as it's the easiest to be able to monitor growth!

To start, you need to coat your skewers or sticks in granulated sugar. The purpose of this is to "seed" the rock candy and give the crystals something to adhere to as they start to grow.

I trim my skewers a bit before using them since they're pretty long and have a pointy sharp end.

Submerge the skewers in water, coat them in sugar, and then set out to dry.

I like to do this a day ahead of time, but as long as you let them dry for an hour, they should be fine.

The next step is to prep your jars so that the process is easy once you make your sugar solution.

Make sure your jars are clean and not cold (I recommend running hot water through them before using). Attach a clothespin or chip clip to each skewer and then balance over the top of jars.

Be sure your skewer is hanging about an inch from the bottom of the jar as the rock candy crystals will stick to the bottom of the jar and will make it tough to remove skewers.

Set it all up, but then take the skewer out of the jar- you'll add it back in once your sugar solution is in.

Now it's time to make the sugar solution. Add 4 cups of water to a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and then start adding sugar in one cup at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon and letting each cup fully dissolve before adding the next.

You'll notice it becomes harder and harder for the sugar to dissolve as you add more in and the sugar will start to clump before dissolving, like this:

That means your solution is supersaturated and you should have no problem growing crystals. Woo hoo!

Once your final cup of sugar has been dissolved, let mixture simmer for about 5 minutes before removing from heat.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture rest for about 15 minutes.

Now, divide the mixture between your 5 prepared jars. And stir in your food coloring at this time.

I highly recommend bringing your jars to where they'll be resting for the next 6-7 days before you place the skewer in the jar. Be sure to use caution when moving the jars as they will be very, very hot.

Once the jars are in their resting spots, place prepared skewers into solution. You'll want to try your best not to move jars around much once skewers are in place.

Now comes the tough part... Waiting for your rock candy to grow!

Luckily, things will start happening fairly quickly and you should see crystals starting to grow on your sticks within a day. Here's how mine looked after 24 hours:

Here they are after 48 hours:

And here they are after 72 hours:

You can remove the skewers from the jars whenever you want, but I recommend giving them at least 6 days to fully form.

When you're ready to remove rock candy sticks from jars, use your finger to gently crack the hardened sugar on top of the jar and gently wiggle the stick to release. Like this:

Let the syrup drizzle from stick. I recommend setting the candy over an empty jar or bowl to let it drip or placing it on a paper towel.

Then you're ready to enjoy your incredible homemade rock candy!

How cool is that??

Can I Re-Use Sugar Solution?

I got a lot of questions about this on my previous post, so I decided to do a little experimenting this time around.

Once you take the sticks out of your jars, you'll likely feel wasteful pouring the rest of the sugar solution in the trash. So, can you re-use it? The short answer is yes!

But before you just plop another sugar-coated stick in the solution, I recommend that you pour it back into a saucepan and bring it back to a boil. Add another ¼ cup sugar in it and let it simmer for a few minutes. Then pour it back in the jar.

I re-used a couple of my solutions without re-heating and adding more sugar to the solution and here's how they came out after a week:

Here's what happened when I did re-heat and add an additional ¼ cup sugar:

That's some definite proof that you'll want to re-boil the solution and add more sugar!

Why Isn't My Rock Candy Growing?

Great question! Making rock candy can be a bit finicky and there are lots of reasons it may not work on your first try. However, if you follow these instructions closely and use the full 10 cups of sugar in 4 cups of water, you should have a supersaturated solution and your chances of it working are high.

If your sticks don't seem to have crystals growing at all after a few days, it may because your sugar solution wasn't oversaturated for whatever reason. In that case, you can put the mixture back into the saucepan, bring it to a boil and add in another cup of sugar. Stir to dissolve. Add more sugar in if the first cup dissolved easily.

You'll want to use new sugar-coated skewers, too.

I went through this process the first time I made rock candy and had a fail and it definitely seemed to help as crystals started growing after I did it.

Also be sure to double-check that your jars are clean and not cold and that you didn't move your jars around once you added the stick in.

How Can I Make Rock Candy Fast?

Unfortunately, there isn't really a way to make rock candy grow quickly. I have heard that putting the jars in the fridge will speed up the process a bit, but I haven't tried this myself.

You can take your rock candy out of the jar after just a couple days, but your sticks will probably be a bit sparse.

How to Store Candy

Store your rock candy in a cool dry place. If you're planning on keeping it for a while or giving it as gifts, I recommend wrapping them in cellophane wrappers, like these .

When stored properly, your rock candy should stay good for a year.

Helpful Tip & Tricks

Once you have the process down and understand the science behind it, making your own rock candy is super simple! But I do have some tips and tricks that should help you troubleshoot if you're having problems:

• Make sure your mason jars are completely clean and not cold. I store a lot of my mason jars in my basement (which is chilly), so I always clean them out with hot water before using them.
• Do not skip the step of coating your sticks in sugar. It's very important that the crystals have something to adhere to as they grow (otherwise they'll likely just grow to the bottom of the jar).
• I recommend using a concentrated food coloring or gel to ensure that you can add enough color without adding too much liquid to the solution. These are my favorite colors (they're not gel, but are very saturated).
• I recommend making the color a bit darker than you think you should as it will look lighter once the crystals form.
• You can add flavoring to the rock candy if you want, but similarly to using food coloring, try to use a concentrated flavoring so you don't have to add too much liquid to get the flavor level you want.
• Once you've poured your sugar mixture and placed your sticks in the jars, take care not to move them or jostle the sticks.

As you can see, DIY rock candy is pretty easy to make as long as long as you understand the process. It mostly just requires patience... And a whole lot of sugar!

After making rock candy at home, I have a whole new appreciation for the candy and can certainly understand why a company may charge top dollar for it (though I'm sure the use of machinery makes it much easier!).

Don't forget to check out my recipe for rock candy cocktails if you're looking for a fun way to utilize your candy!

Have you ever made your own rock candy at home?

DIY Rock Candy

Ingredients.

• 5 wooden skewers
• 5 mason jars (I recommend 16 oz)
• 5 clothespins or chip clips
• 4 cups water
• 10 cups granulated sugar, plus more for coating skewers
• Food coloring

Instructions

• Submerge skewers in water, coat them in sugar, and then set out to dry. I like to do this a day ahead of time, but as long as you let them dry for an hour, they should be fine.
• Make sure your jars are clean and not cold (run hot water through them if necessary). Attach a clothespin or chip clip to the top of each skewer and then balance over the top of jars. Be sure your skewer is hanging about an inch from the bottom of the jar as the rock candy crystals will stick to the bottom of the jar and will make it tough to remove skewers.
• In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add sugar in one cup at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon and letting each cup fully dissolve before adding the next. You'll notice it becomes harder and harder for the sugar to dissolve as you add more in.
• Once your final cup of sugar has been dissolved, let mixture simmer for about 5 minutes before removing from heat. Let mixture rest off the heat for about 15 minutes.
• Divide sugar solution amongst the 5 prepared jars. Stir in food coloring at this time. I recommend bringing your jars to where they'll be resting for the next 6-7 days at this time. Be sure to use caution as the jars will be very hot. Once they're in their resting spots, place prepared skewers into solution. You'll want to try your best not to move jars around much once skewers are in place.
• You'll likely see little crystals forming within hours, but you'll want to let the jars rest for 6-7 days to let sugar crystals fully form.
• When ready to remove rock candy sticks from jars, use your finger or a fork to gently crack the hardened sugar on top of the jar and gently wiggle the stick to release. Let solution drizzle from stick (I recommend setting the candy over an empty jar or bowl to let it drip) before enjoying the candy.
• If you want to re-use the sugar solution to make more rock candy, pour solution into saucepan and bring to a boil (you can add any sugar crystals that have already formed, but if you can't get them all, simply clean them out of the jar before re-using). Add in an additional ¼ cup of sugar and let simmer for a couple minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes before pouring into a clean jar.

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Reader Interactions

Kate Deeks says

August 17, 2011 at 7:50 pm

Ha! I loved the rock-candy camera setting. Would love to make crystals, but not so interested in the candy eating. Sounds like a fun experiment.

vanillasugarblog says

August 17, 2011 at 7:53 pm

remember as a kid how much we loved having these? i was horrid at making caramel until I finally got a good thermo and MADE myself set up camp at the stove to babysit the caramel.

lynn @ the actor's diet says

August 17, 2011 at 7:55 pm

i remember them making this (and peanut brittle) in science class. i was so jealous of those kids!

August 17, 2011 at 8:41 pm

Rock candy is so pretty! I made it once when I was a kid and a trail of ants found their way to it from under my back door.

August 17, 2011 at 8:43 pm

sue, this is very pretty, it's a piece of art. just like clusters of crystals !! It's amazing to know just by boiling sugar syrup can form into these. oh, just voted for your site. Have a happy day!

August 17, 2011 at 9:25 pm

wedding rock candy...what a cute idea! you could have jars of rock candy forming all over your house haha 🙂

August 17, 2011 at 9:26 pm

I only have about 65 peeps coming to my wedding. I might be able to make this happen! Thanks for the inspiration!!!

August 17, 2011 at 9:34 pm

Congrats! I will go vote now! I had no idea making rock candy was such a process! The results are so pretty! I def do not have the patience

August 17, 2011 at 10:56 pm

Hi Susie! You and Chris looked like you at least enjoyed making these! And they are so pretty. I just voted for your website, and will return tomorrow to do it again!!

Lauren at Keep It Sweet says

August 18, 2011 at 7:10 am

OMG, so much fun! This would completely make me feel like a kid:-)

Joanne says

August 18, 2011 at 7:26 am

Wow who knew that making rock candy was such an ordeal! But totally worth it for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Jenn's Food Journey says

August 18, 2011 at 8:45 am

I made rock candy once when I was about 12!! lol Your post brings back great memories of that!! And they look beautiful 🙂 Congrats on being nominated.. I'm going to vote for your ladies right now!

newlywed says

August 18, 2011 at 10:01 am

Well, it sure looks great! I had DIY-fever for my wedding too. Then I woke up one day and remembered how much I hate crafts. And bought everything. Except for the favors, which I cooked with my mom...because at least I like cooking!

Emily @ A Cambridge Story says

August 18, 2011 at 10:07 am

You definitely make this look easy - who knew that rock candy had to "grow". It probably is a little untenable for homemade wedding favors but I'm really impressed that you did this!

Erica @ In and Around Town says

August 18, 2011 at 10:46 am

Totally did this in 3rd grade science, but think I need to do this again! So much fun 🙂 Congrats on the nomination!

August 18, 2011 at 11:03 am

I think your photos look great! Also, it was interesting to read about your experience making rock candy, I didn't realize it was such a simple process, but with such varied results! Very cool.

August 18, 2011 at 11:08 am

I just bought Sugarbaby and have been planning to try the rock candy recipe just for fun. There's a suggestion in there to use toothpicks and make mini rock candy... which could speed things up if you haven't completely given up on making your own for your wedding.

August 18, 2011 at 12:31 pm

Yumm! I never successfully made rock candy as a child, not convinced I'd be too good at it as an adult either though... haha

Michelle Collins says

August 18, 2011 at 1:30 pm

Congrats on the nomination!

CookiePie says

August 18, 2011 at 1:55 pm

WOW - homemade rock candy - that is amazing! For your wedding, you can show everyone the pictures of your beautiful rock candy 🙂

5 Star Foodie says

August 18, 2011 at 8:34 pm

How fun to make this at home, very neat!

Shannon says

August 19, 2011 at 12:12 pm

how fun!! that is awesome 🙂

Andrea Kazilionis says

August 19, 2011 at 8:26 pm

So excited about this post! I can't wait to try this kitchen science project and enjoy the delicious outcome...!

Kerstin says

August 21, 2011 at 11:34 pm

What a fun post - I had no idea how to make rock candy! Great wedding favor idea too 🙂

August 22, 2011 at 3:49 pm

Looks great! Can't imagine making 200 of those! Man, that is a lot of sugar for so few sticks!!

Elina (Healthy and Sane) says

August 25, 2011 at 5:36 pm

Obviously you're not going to make these for the wedding but at least you now know how to make them (I love discovering such things). Awesome little project! 🙂

Rozzie says

August 31, 2011 at 4:06 pm

Wonderful post! Great to see the photos in progress and your commentary was awesome. Thanks for sharing.

Dorcas says

September 24, 2011 at 3:04 pm

Ironically I had actually planned on trying this tomorrow. Last night I was looking something else up in my Joy of Cooking and thought it'd be really cool to try. I'm so glad I saw your blog because I'm going to do more investigating before I begin. My book says to take a disposable square 8" aluminum pan, punch 7-8 holes 1/2" up on two opposite sides. Then lace string back and forth. Then you pour sugar mixture (boiled to 250- hard ball stage) over string. String will be immersed. Then cover pan & leave undisturbed 36-48 hours at least. Then wait some more until it's all crystalized. Cut strings and lift it out of pan. (I guess it's solid now - idk) put on baking sheet in 200 degree oven to dry. Says to use strings as decoration or knock crystals off. Store in air tight container at room temp. Usage idea- pile crystals high in bowl at party for fancy sugar for coffee. I didn't copy recipe here. Just gave you the highlights. As you can imagine I now have a headache. Lol. You used 3.5 cups of sugar. Mine is 2.5 cups sugar, 1cup water and a pinch of Cream of Tartar.

simone says

October 28, 2011 at 9:58 am

Featured you in our Food Trends article this week! Looks delicious and gorgeous.

November 13, 2011 at 8:21 pm

I have had varied luck over the last few years, making rock candy. Like yours, some stuck to the stick, some turned to a huge blob in the bottom of the jar. Luckily for me, I was making them to tie onto Christmas packages, and not for a wedding, or the pressure would have gotten to me! I ordered candy flavorings, and added it to my sugar solutions. Then co-ordinated it with the color-mint or irish cream went with green, for example. These were made to use for stirring coffee, sweetening it, and giving it some specialty flavors! A great gift in itself. If you have serious coffee drinkers on your list!

Charles says

November 19, 2011 at 12:47 pm

my took 4 months...for one crystal to grow on it (:

Charlie says

December 04, 2011 at 9:52 pm

This would be a great Girl Scout troop project!

MYT CR8TiV says

March 06, 2012 at 10:22 pm

I made these in Science class when I was a kid. We used Hard Candy Flavoring drops to enhance the taste. You could use those so it doesn't just taste like bland crystallized sugar.

May 02, 2012 at 11:11 pm

I just had to do a chemistry experiment dealing with recrystalization. We did the same process of boiling the water and sugar to supersaturate it, after it was completely mixed we placed the beaker in an ice bath and the crystals automatically formed. I wonder if that process would work to speed up the rock candy process.

Dakota says

June 25, 2012 at 6:25 pm

Thanks, this'll be great to try! I heard that you can flavor them with flavoring oil/extract, im not sure if I could stand pure sugar on a stick. 🙂

August 09, 2012 at 1:15 pm

I loveee this site! I'm using rock candy in my wedding too, Purple and White Rock Candy in a vase to make a "bouquet". I've searched online for some to buy, but it is kind of expenses so I thought I would try to make my own. Sounds easy, right? HA! 🙂

Jacob Crim says

October 19, 2012 at 10:34 am

Could I pour the liquid into a baking sheet then break it up once its dried? I am trying to make "blue meth" like in Breaking Bad for my Halloween costume.

October 20, 2012 at 10:40 am

@Jacob- You could try! As you saw, making this wasn't exactly easy for me... So I'd try a few batches now and hopefully one will be ready in time 🙂

A.L. Designs Jewelry says

December 12, 2012 at 8:54 am

Look so fun and yummy 🙂

January 19, 2013 at 3:25 pm

Just a thought in candy making. I was always told to making candy on sunny days. Candy wont set up if not. I know this is true for fudge, and would make sense for this as well.

VinPro elegance says

May 09, 2013 at 9:28 pm

Thanks!!Thanks, great to try!

Fattaneh says

September 26, 2013 at 12:31 am

Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm gonna try it and I hope the result is good.

November 19, 2014 at 9:51 pm

These are awesome. I think imperfection looks more beautiful. Cant wait to do this with my daughter.

Gourmet Candy says

December 29, 2014 at 1:34 pm

I really liked the rock candy and you should also go to this site they got some pretty good candy here too http://www.myidolpops.com/

Heather says

October 24, 2015 at 8:02 pm

Well I am really glad I read this. I have been attempting to make rock candy for a baby shower. I have watched countless videos. Everyone makes it look so easy. For some reason the sugar I bought never seems to get clear. I stir and stir and stir. By the time it comes to a boil and I pour it into the jars within an hour its like a solid hard clump. I have three weeks to complete this task lol. I will not give up 😉

November 28, 2015 at 1:17 pm

I heard to dip skewers in the liquid solution and roll them in sugar before putting them in the jar. The sugar will crystallize on the other crystals.

Erica Watson says

January 12, 2016 at 12:39 am

I was wondering how did you make rock candy .now I know how to make it me and my grandkids can make that on family night

July 02, 2016 at 9:03 am

This is truly amazing!!!!!! The only thing I don't like is that it won't let me see the ingredients

July 02, 2016 at 9:04 am

This is truly amazing!!!!

kaidadraco says

February 14, 2017 at 2:05 pm

best thing ever! XD

Zareena says

April 09, 2017 at 10:27 pm

Hmm...i wonder if the sugar will stick on a heart shaped-wire? We can make a heart rock candy for Valentine's day! ??

April 19, 2017 at 2:55 pm

@Zareena Definitely worth a try! It wasn't the easiest to make, but maybe I'll try again soon since it's been many years since my first attempt 🙂

Shannon B says

July 02, 2021 at 11:02 am

Olivia Michaels says

August 29, 2021 at 11:44 am

Britney D McClenney says

November 27, 2021 at 1:39 pm

I was wondering if we could use Kool aid packets as the flavor and color for the rock candy?

November 27, 2021 at 5:12 pm

Hi Britney! I haven't tried this, but I do think it will work. The added sugar from Kool Aid should be fine and the color and flavor would work well!

Dorcas Berthold says

December 05, 2021 at 5:12 am

December 08, 2021 at 7:57 am

someone says

February 08, 2022 at 3:37 pm

Katrina says

February 11, 2022 at 10:46 pm

Karley says

March 20, 2022 at 5:28 pm

To redo it, it is per jar? Like do 1 jar at a time or do you add them all back in and then put the 1/4 cup of sugar?

March 24, 2022 at 10:16 pm

@Karley- It's per jar. If they're all the same color and flavor, you could do them all together, but still add 1/4 cup per jar. It seems like a lot, but the crystals need a lot to grow!

Allison says

May 26, 2022 at 1:41 pm

I tried this but the whole jar turned into wet but fairly solid granular sugar the first day - did I add too much sugar?! I was halving the recipe so maybe I messed up…

May 26, 2022 at 2:38 pm

Hi Allison! I haven't heard of this happening, but it could be that you used too much sugar and/or you didn't boil it long enough. Generally, if you "oversaturate" the solution with too much sugar, the extra sugar will just chill at the bottom of the jar as it cools, but if there was a lot of it, I could see how it could start hardening in the bottom of the jar and on the sides fairly quickly. Let me know if you try again!

May 31, 2022 at 7:31 pm

I did it exactly like the recipe said and I'm 4 days in and not one Crystal it hasn't done anything

June 02, 2022 at 11:38 am

Hi Erica! Unfortunately, rock candy can be VERY finicky and though I've made rock candy tons of times, I've even had issues with it before. There are SO many factors that can effect growth. It IS odd you didn't have any crystal growth at all, so I wonder if enough sugar was added and if it was dissolved into the water all the way. Sometimes rock candy doesn't grow perfectly on the stick or string, but with enough sugar properly dissolved, there should at least be SOME crystal growth in the jar. Let me know if it progressed at all or if you need any further help trouble shooting!

June 07, 2022 at 9:37 pm

August 20, 2022 at 2:43 pm

Hello! Science teacher here. Was planning to try this with my chemistry class but our classes are only 50 minutes long. Can I make the sugar solution early, like at home before school and bring it in and it still work? They are my 4th period class. Can I make at home then microwave to liven up the sugar before class?? Thanks for your help!

August 20, 2022 at 3:07 pm

Hi Cindy! With 50 minutes, I think you should have enough time to do the project in class... It may take 30-40 minutes to dissolve all the sugar into the water (but can be faster if you can get the water boiling before class starts!). Then it can just be poured into the prepared jars... it will take close to a week for rock candy to fully form, but will be fun to check in on every day to see the crystals forming! However, if you want to do it ahead of time, I think you could prepare the sugar saturated solution and then re-heat in class, but you may need to add a little more sugar when re-heating as sugar crystals may already be starting to form as it's cooled. But this should definitely work as I've re-used the solution leftover in jars to make more rock candy with no problem. Let me know how it goes!

December 22, 2022 at 11:31 am

Hi Sue, I use to work in a coffee shop and we kept flavored sugars. A vanilla bean in the sugar for vanilla, etc. I wonder if you couldn't flavor the sugar before hand instead of adding a concentrate to it. Norma

December 22, 2022 at 2:35 pm

Hi Norma- I think that's a great idea!

March 28, 2023 at 11:15 am

Loved the directions with pictures! Just wondering, if you could put two sticks in at once, on opposite sides of the jar?

March 28, 2023 at 12:09 pm

Hi KC! I haven't tried using 2 sticks at once, but as long as your jars are wide mouth jars, you should be able to do this!

Marlene Pollitt says

May 10, 2023 at 10:53 pm

Melissa E says

June 07, 2023 at 5:39 pm

June 09, 2023 at 12:39 pm

Hi Melissa! Yes, I use pint jars for my rock candy. How much extract you use will depend on how strong you like the flavor, but I'd say a teaspoon should work. You shouldn't need to ad more sugar for that small amount of extract. If you ad the extract in while the mixture is still boiling, it will burn the alcohol off. And how much food coloring really depends on the type you're using- I recommend using a concentrated food coloring and you'll only need a few drops. I hope that's helpful!!

Brenda says

June 09, 2023 at 6:27 pm

Hello, I made my first batch and they turned out wonderful. Second batch, not so much. Third batch, well, what I got was sugar slushies and big clumps of sugar stuck to the bottom of the jars. Obviously I’m an idiot. What can I do to save my starter if I can save it? I need help. That’s a lot of sugar to just discard.

June 11, 2023 at 4:28 pm

Hi Brenda- Yes, I have some advice on this in my post! You can even re-use the solution if your rock candy grows. Just pour it back into a saucepan and bring to a boil- you will want to add some more sugar. Let me know how it goes!

November 17, 2023 at 10:24 pm

Would it be ok to cover the jar with aluminum foil, to keep dust from getting inside? Or do they need to be left open so water can evaporate? I wouldn't be pressing the foil around the sides tightly, just kinda loosely covering it. Our house became super dusty all of a sudden after my brother moved in & nothing seems to help keep it at bay🤢 I like the idea of reusing the left over solution after the first sticks are finished, but without covering the jars I'd feel too disgusted to do so.

BTW, here's a tip to get bigger crystals... Supposedly the slower the solution cools, the bigger the crystals will turn out... So maybe it'd be helpful to wrap the jars in foil or use a thermos type container to make the candies in? Only prob with the thermos-you couldn't see the progress until you removed the stick. I'm sure you guys can come up with plenty of ways to try and slow down the cooling process. It actually makes sense that the quicker the solution cools the smaller the crystals would be, since "heat" is just a term for how fast particles are moving.

November 18, 2023 at 12:05 am

Hi Heather- Yes! As long as you're not totally sealing the foil around the jars, I think it would be perfectly fine to loosely cover them. Just make sure some air can still circulate.

And yes, I bet wrapping the jars in foil or towels could help slow the cooling down a bit- great idea!!

Kendyl says

January 12, 2024 at 3:49 pm

January 20, 2024 at 6:41 pm

January 21, 2024 at 9:20 pm

Hi Kat- I'm really sorry to hear that! Like I mention, making rock candy is an extremely finicky process and many factors can determine the outcome. Generally if your whole jar crystalizes, this is due to the jar being moved or disturbed too much or from temperature fluctuations after your solution is in the jar (like if the room is warm during the day and then the temperature drops at night). It can also happen if some sort of debris getting into the jar. All of the same factors can create "cotton candy" or "fluffy" looking candy, so I am thinking one of those things may have created the issues. I hope that's helpful! I know it's frustrating when experiments don't work after spending so much time on them (and rock candy takes SO much time), but I hope you'll try again at some point because lots of people have had success with this "recipe!"

February 25, 2024 at 5:38 pm

April 09, 2024 at 4:39 pm

April 10, 2024 at 10:07 pm

Hi Tes! I haven't tried doing more than 1 in a jar, but I think as long as your jars are large enough (I recommend wide mouth jars), you should be able to do this. Just make sure there is enough space in between the sticks for rock candy to grow. Let me know how it goes!

April 11, 2024 at 7:17 pm

April 17, 2024 at 9:38 am

Hi Heather- Yes, you should be able to do this with fewer jars/sticks!

May 20, 2024 at 5:22 pm

If i were to take a rock candy out and put it into a different dye solution would it continue to grow fine so that i get a multi colored rock candy?

May 23, 2024 at 11:51 am

Hi Luke- I haven't tried this, but I do think it should work!

July 29, 2024 at 10:26 pm

I remember trying to make rock candy as a kid. All I remember is it didn't turn out well. lol I tried making this around a yr ago and was so excited that my turned out looking exactly like the ones you buy at the store😃 It took quite a bit longer than a week for enough crystals to form to get to that point tho. I was planning on using the left over syrup to make more, but my idiot brother knocked over the jar, spilling it everywhere! You def don't want that to happen! obv it was an awful sticky mess to clean up!

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Coffee Cups and Crayons

Simple play ideas, learning activities, kids crafts and party ideas, plus acts of kindness for kids!

August 14, 2014

Rock Candy Science Experiment

A science experiment that ends in candy is sure to motivate kids! You can show your kids how to make rock candy and learn about crystals at the same time.

Rock candy is simple to make at home, but it does take awhile for the crystals to form. This gives kids a chance to make observations over a period of days which is a great way to teach them to think like scientists !

How to Make Rock Candy:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• thin wooden skewer stick and clothespin
• pint size jar
• food coloring (optional)

We used the amounts above in each of our jars so you may need to double, triple, etc depending on how many you are doing.

Boil the water and slowly add the sugar until it all dissolves, this takes awhile. Add the color while it’s boiling if you want your candy to be colored. After the sugar has completely dissolved take it off the heat and let cool.  Pour the sugar water into the jar.

Wet your sticks with some of the sugar water and then roll them in more sugar.  This will help the crystals form on your stick. Be careful though, if your water hasn’t cooled yet the warmth will dissolve it.

Hang the stick in the sugar solution with the clothespin and set the jars somewhere they won’t be disturbed. Have the kids observe what is going on inside the jar and on the stick.

After a few days you can see crystals forming on the stick and on the sides of the jar.  If you are making rock candy to eat you will want to keep changing out the sugar water to dissuade crystals from growing on the side and to keep the bugs out!

We were just growing ours to observe and not to eat so crystals growing along the sides and top of the jar worked out perfectly.

After about 10 days the crystals are fully formed and you can pull the sticks out.

We actually ended up leaving ours for, ahem, 20 days because we forgot to take them out before we went on vacation!

We pulled out the sticks and used a magnifying glass to observe the sugar crystals that were formed on the sticks.

We also poured the water out of the jars and observed the crystals that grew inside the jars too!

Growing sugar crystals are such a pretty science experiment!

This is our last post in the summer science camp series, but that doesn’t mean the fun has to be over!

Simple science experiments are great to do any time of the year! Catch up on all of the science projects that were shared this summer.

On this blog:   Mentos geyser ,  Dancing raisins ,  Liquid layers ,  Homemade silly putty ,  Magic milk ,  Exploding baggie ,  Walking water

At What Do We Do All Day?:  Ice cube on a string ,   Solar oven ,  Homemade compass ,  Balloon rocket race , Leak proof bag ,  Simple science lab , Science YouTube channels for kids

Don’t let the fun and discovery stop there!

We have TONS of science experiments your kids will love on our  Super Cool Science Experiments for Kids  page! 

Take me to the experiments –>   Super Cool Science Experiments for Kids

About Megan Sheakoski

Megan is the creator of Coffee Cups and Crayons, a blog full of simple fun and learning. She believes that kids’ activities don’t have to be complicated to be fun and that learning is better with play.

August 15, 2014 at 7:17 am

Consequently mouth watering! That looks amazing.

February 1, 2024 at 8:43 am

i know right

February 26, 2015 at 1:42 pm

Thanks for sharing! Perfect for my 5 year old who loves crystals (and rock candy!!)

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Gluesticks Blog

March 29, 2020 By Brandy 129 Comments

Home » Recipes » Kids in the Kitchen

Homemade Rock Candy: Tips and Tricks (Video)

Filed Under: Dessert Recipes , Kids in the Kitchen

Make homemade rock candy with these tips and tricks and answers to frequently asked questions. A fun science experiment and treat for kids! Rock candy takes 5-7 days to grow, but the process is fun to watch!

Watch our step by step video!

Homemade rock candy is easy to make, it just takes patience..

There are so many variations using string, sticks, etc. It’s a beautiful science project and sweet treat all in one. It does take time, and the end results can vary. There’s a science to it and that’s all part of the fun! Just know this… YOU NEED A WHOLE LOT OF SUGAR . A LOT. You can start with a 1:2 water/sugar ratio, but we’ve had better luck just shy of a 1:3 water sugar ratio. So if you have 4 cups of water, you’ll need between about 10 cups of sugar to make the perfect sugar syrup.

Scroll to the bottom for some frequently asked questions for making rock candy.

How to Make Rock Candy on a Stick

Homemade Rock Candy Recipe

• clothespins

Ingredients

• Sugar lots of sugar
• Food Coloring concentrated for brighter colors
• Wooden Candy Sticks or Bamboo Skewers
• flavoring optional

Instructions

• Let the sticks dry completely and set aside. This will give the sugar a base (something to stick to when it starts to crystallize).

• Ladle the syrup into your jars using a funnel to catch spills. Add food coloring and flavorings to each jar, if you’d like wouldn't grape, cherry, orange or lemon flavoring be delicious?).

• Place your jars in a safe location and watch the crystals grow!
• You can create as much or as little syrup as you'd like as long as you keep the same sugar/water ratio. You are making a nice, sticky, sugary syrup. 
• If after 24 hours you don't see any crystal growth, pour each jar of syrup back into the pan (separately) and add more sugar. 1/4 c. or so and heat once more until it is a syrup consistency. Roll the sticky skewers in sugar and add once more to the jar after the syrup has cooled down to be warm (not hot) or room temperature.
• Make sure the skewer isn't touching the bottom or sides of jar/glass. They need room to grow. One skewer per jar works best for regular sized jars.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can you make more than one stick of rock candy in each jar, how do you drain the rock candy, how long will rock candy last.

The shelf life for rock candy, if kept in a dry location, is 1 year.

Can I use a disposable foam cup for making rock candy?

Why didn’t my rock candy grow crystals.

If crystals don’t grow it is almost always due to lack of sugar.

If after 24 hours you don’t see any crystal growth, pour the syrup back into the pan and add more sugar. 1/4 c. or so and heat once more until it is a hot syrup consistency. Only pour and heat one jar at a time if you used different colors of syrup. Roll the sticky skewers in sugar and add once more to the jar after the syrup has cooled down.

Can you re-use rock candy syrup to make more crystals?

Should you cover your rock candy jars, here’s are a few more tips for making homemade rock candy:.

• Make sure your glass/jars are clear and CLEAN.
• Make sure your water/ sugar ratio is AT LEAST 1:2- just shy of a 1:3.  You want a thick, saturated sugar syrup mixture.
• Place in a WARM, SUNNY location if you’d like to grow crystals quicker. They will be smaller crystals. If you want larger crystals, place it in a place away from direct sunlight. Our crystals are small because we grow ours on a windowsill. We like seeing the light shine through the glass and watching the crystals grow.

Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you!

• Arrow of Light Award {Cub Scout Patches Display}
• Homemade Circus Animal Cookies Recipe
• Copycat Subway Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Strawberry Banana Trifle

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Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com without any additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Reader Interactions

September 24, 2011 at 1:31 am

What a neat idea. I vaguely remember making sugar crystals on string like this in science class back in the day… skewers are way better for eating it though!

September 24, 2011 at 6:32 pm

I have been wanting to do Rock Candy! Thank goodness you did a post, it reminded me and your tutorial looks simple enough 🙂

September 24, 2011 at 10:10 pm

I was seriously about to search for this so I could make some teacher gifts that said “You Rock!” Thanks for the tutorial!

September 25, 2011 at 1:24 pm

I have to try this! What a fun idea and the kids probably loved watching it. I wonder if we get enough warm sunlight in our house in the canyon. I will be sharing this on my facebook page and pinning this idea!

September 25, 2011 at 2:35 pm

Wow! What a lovely project – we are going to try this!!!! Thanks for sharing 🙂

September 26, 2011 at 7:22 pm

Totally awesome! I can’t wait to make this with my kids!!!

September 27, 2011 at 2:54 am

How fun!! I can’t wait to make these. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.

September 27, 2011 at 10:15 am

Sweet welcome to this link party – http://ivanna.blog.com/linkparty01/ ). And happy crafting ).

September 27, 2011 at 3:14 pm

Hi, I just came from Tutorial Tuesday. This is such a great tutorial. My mom would love making this with my sons.

I’m now following you. Please stop by when you have a chance and join us. We have fun crafts and some are eco-friendly.

September 27, 2011 at 5:23 pm

I love rock candy! I really need to do this again with the kids. Thanks for the reminder!

September 27, 2011 at 7:58 pm

LOVE it!!! absolutely love it! thanks for posting to Tip Junkie!

Shannon Sweet Stella’s

September 28, 2011 at 12:02 am

my little girl was sitting beside me when this picture came up, she said, “yummy, we should try that!” thanks for the inspiration! I started a link party at my blog and I’d love for you to link this up. If you’re interested it’s http://caribbeanmissionarywife.blogspot.com/ Have a lovely day, Maria

September 28, 2011 at 3:37 am

LOVE THIS! I can not wait to mske these!!! Thank you for the tutorial! Have a pretty day! Kristin

September 28, 2011 at 4:08 am

I just came from Tutorial Tuesday. And is such a great tutorial. My mother and I make this before two days with different colours. We are thinking to include this for kids party. hediyelik eşya

September 29, 2011 at 12:25 pm

oh i love this idea. I might need to make these for my upcoming halloween party!

September 29, 2011 at 1:15 pm

What a great thing to make! Can’t wait to try this with my kids – they’ll love it!

Visiting from Somewhat Simple. Following you now. 🙂

September 29, 2011 at 2:02 pm

I remember doing this with my brothers when we were in middle school. We never thought of coloring it! I should make these with the kids. You know my girl is the sugar addict. 🙂

September 29, 2011 at 4:17 pm

thanks for sharing I shared link on my blog http://shopannies.blogspot.com

September 29, 2011 at 5:05 pm

awesome, love the colors!!

September 30, 2011 at 8:33 pm

Thanks so much for sharing, my daughter’s birthday is coming up and I hope I can try to make these! I featured them on my Friday 5! Have a great weekend!

October 1, 2011 at 4:03 am

This is awesome! I was wondering how to make rock candy. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe and process.

Pinned on pinterest. 🙂

Cheers, Tracy Screaming Sardine

October 1, 2011 at 11:55 am

Looks delish!

October 1, 2011 at 10:21 pm

Would be fun to make with my 6 year old!

October 2, 2011 at 2:12 am

Never thought of making these at home! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂 Great idea!

October 3, 2011 at 2:39 pm

Ooooo… thanks for sharing! It’s been forever since I’ve thought about rock candy! Might have to make some now 🙂

October 6, 2011 at 3:12 am

I love this so much I featured it this week at my Hookin Up with HoH Party !

Feel free to stop by and grab a button if you’d like!!

Allison @ House of Hepworths

October 9, 2011 at 9:07 pm

This is great! I’ve looked into buying these for a party and I think making them would be much cheaper and the plus is that this would be a great science lesson for my son – delicious and educational; the best of both worlds…LOL! Thanks for this post! (coming to you from Nifty-Thrifty linky party)

October 10, 2011 at 12:35 am

What a great tutorial! I’ve featured this project as part of Simple Crafter’s Simple Craft Tutorials for this week. 🙂 http://www.simplecrafter.com

October 11, 2011 at 11:55 pm

What a sharp idea.. love it..Awesome blog,,Im officially following ya with smiles.. Found ya on linky and had to stop in.. So much creativity dwells here.. Im Marilyn via http://theartsygirlconnection.blogspot.com ..Hope you can stop in sometime..TY

October 17, 2011 at 5:08 pm

This is going to sound stupid, I’m sure, but would flavor extracts work with this? I’d love to make flavored rock candy!

May 10, 2022 at 9:08 pm

Extracts are what I use!

October 17, 2011 at 6:25 pm

I’m with Damienne…and would adding alcohol work for adult versions? I can see myself eating these, drinking an adult bev of some sort and trying to knit!

October 18, 2011 at 2:53 pm

I LOVE this idea! I’m taking my kids to Disneyland in December and want to make all the treats we eat there this time instead of spending so much $$ buying it all. This is one we’ll be making…and doing it together.

Thanks for sharing!

Mischa http://barelykeepingittogether.blogspot.com/

October 18, 2011 at 10:12 pm

This is amazing. Can you heat up the leftover syrup and start re-use it?

October 19, 2011 at 1:08 am

@Rebecca, I’m not sure, but I don’t see why not! As long as it is still a thick sugary syrup mixture again when it’s heated up again I would think it would work!

@Damienne, yes you can! I just didn’t have any!

Have a great week ladies!

Brandy Gluesticks

October 20, 2011 at 5:25 am

This is AWESOME!! I’ve always loved rock candy and so do my two boys!! We are so doing this and SOON!! Thanks!! 🙂

October 30, 2011 at 5:48 pm

This is such a cool idea! I can’t wait to enjoy this with my kids!

November 1, 2011 at 2:03 pm

I wonder, could you use kool aid to color and flavor the sugar water?? Just a thought?

November 2, 2011 at 6:40 pm

Thank you so very much for the reminder! I think the last time I made these was over 10 years ago. We didn’t dip the skewers in sugar first so there was some coverage issues. We did make them in clear plastic containers so we could easy break any lingering crystals out and then reheated them and the syrup to make more rock candy. Once again thank you for the reminder! I know what we are going to be making for the cousins for christmas!!

November 4, 2011 at 8:06 pm

Does anyone know if you *have* to use the wooden skewers? I have some of the paper-ish lollipop sticks on hand and wonder if those would work?

November 13, 2011 at 5:45 pm

I used your instructions, and we’re on day 3 with no crystals forming on the sticks. What do you think I did wrong?

November 14, 2011 at 3:04 am

Mama B- I’m not sure. I’ve just always seend them int he stores with wooden skewers. Good luck!

Mama-tbull- Oh no! I’m not sure what went wrong. As long as they are in a warm sunny location and there is at least a 2 to 1 sugar/water ratio, I’m not sure what else could have gone wrong. Was there a good coating of sugar on the skewers so that the crystals had something to grow on?I wish I could help more. Give it a few more days before throwing in the towel.

November 30, 2011 at 11:45 am

wonder if you could use unsweetened koolaid pkts and that would give you color and flavor at the same time?

July 24, 2014 at 4:48 pm

I love the unsweetened koolaid idea!!

January 5, 2012 at 4:35 am

This comment has been removed by the author.

January 5, 2012 at 4:36 am

Can I use another type of sugar say honey? Thanks!

January 5, 2012 at 12:27 pm

I honestly have no idea. Sorry that I am not much help. Maybe you can find another recipe online that does this. I know that honey crystalizes in the container after awhile. But I really haven’t thought too much about it.

Have a great week!

January 15, 2012 at 6:55 pm

WE ARE MAKING this, but not to eat, it will be the stalgitie in our cavern project

January 26, 2012 at 2:35 am

Great tutorial. I can’t wait to try it out. Thanks!

February 12, 2012 at 1:23 am

Ok, I’m trying this… unsuccessfully. So did you wait until your solution was cool before you put your skewers in? The sugar dried onto my skewers is just dissolving into my solution. 🙁 How long did you “dry” your skewers with sugar on them?

February 12, 2012 at 2:11 am

Stevie, I only let the sugar cool 10-15 minutes or so before adding the sticks. Some of the sugar will dissolve off of the sticks, but it should still give it enough of a base. How long has it been since you dipped them? Was it today? Or a couple of days ago. If it was today, I’d give it 24 hours and see what happens tomorrow. I think you’ll be surprised and see some progress. Let me know!

February 12, 2012 at 2:18 am

Oh, and as far as how long I dried my skewers that had been dipped in sugar. Just long enough so that they are DRY. Not moist at all. I dipped them first, then created the syrup mixture, then waited the 10 mintues or so for the mixture to cool before putting them in the syrup. By that time they were dry. Good luck!

February 25, 2012 at 9:04 pm

Love this post! I remember eating these on special occasions when I was a kid. I had to share this with my Eljah*B fans https://www.facebook.com/pages/EljahB/163991400290778

Thanks for your great blog!

March 12, 2012 at 3:43 am

Can’t wait to try this. Thanks so much for sharing 🙂

March 12, 2012 at 8:59 pm

Love the idea!! Silly question: can I use the syrup in the jars again to make more? Thanks!

March 12, 2012 at 11:37 pm

Hi Cecelia,

I’m not sure why you couldn’t re-use it. It’s pretty much a simple syrup, but I have not tried to do so and am not sure how long it would stay good for.

March 13, 2012 at 5:42 am

How did they taste? 🙂

March 16, 2012 at 3:23 am

I am also having problems getting anywhere. My syrup is between a 2:1 and a 3:1 (Sugar:water)

I used wooden skewers and mason jars. I let the dipped sticks dry by a fan for an hour… Do you think the syrup might have been to cool when I set the skewers? It’s day three and all the sugar as dissolved and no crystals on the sticks or the bottom. I am willing to try and tips you may have 😉

March 16, 2012 at 12:04 pm

Borders Family,

I sounds like you did it right. I don’t think it was too cool. It should have been fine, but I’ve had to warm up my sugar again before and add more sugar to help jump start the process even when the previous time I made it, it worked out fine with the same sugar/water ratio. So I don’t know what mades it sometimes work and another time need more sugar. Just reheat your syrup and add more sugar (the same method you did before….stirring until dissolving and can’t disolve anymore) and keep it in a sunny location.

Just pull your skewers out and roll them in sugar while you reheat your syrup. They should be ok to stick back in as long as they are thick and dry.

I am so sorry that it hasn’t worked out for you yet, but it will!

May 16, 2012 at 7:06 pm

Can you cover the jars? I don’t want any flying critters getting crystalized in the grandbabies’ snacks …

May 16, 2012 at 7:26 pm

Hi Bernadette, I haven’t tried covering mine before so I’m not sure. Sorry! But I understand what you mean. The summer is the perfect time to do rock candy in a warm window, but is also the perfect time for bugs…

May 23, 2012 at 10:41 am

I’m selling the ball end sticks that are used to make rock candy. They are SO HARD TO FIND!!!! Anyone needs them can contact me at [email protected]

June 24, 2012 at 3:30 pm

Hello there, thanks for the post. Our family is doing this for our summer bucket list!

Just an observation: folks don’t hold yourself to any particular timeline. We didn’t start to see crystals forming until about day 7. Here we are at day 14 and we pulled one out and it is similar to the smaller one pictured. We have decided to wait another week to see what more we can get.

I knew we had something within the first three days though, because crystals started forming in the top water line and at the bottom of the glass. If you don’t have these crystals within the first 4-5 days, you probably need more sugar.

I covered the tops loosely with cupcake liners. I just slipped them over the top through a small hole in the bottom. I too was worried about critters. It also stopped prying eyes from trying to touch.

July 3, 2012 at 8:16 pm

Love this! I remember doing this when I was a child. 🙂 Megan

July 3, 2012 at 8:17 pm

July 22, 2012 at 9:22 pm

I wonder how well it would work to use koolaid powder as flavoring& coloring

July 30, 2012 at 1:38 pm

Brilliant idea – hoping to give this one a go this holiday.

November 10, 2012 at 3:56 pm

I have a question! I would like to make these for my daughter’s winter wonderland birthday party, but I’m worried it might be too cold now. We have only north-facing windows in our apartment with no direct sunlight. Would there be enough light that way, or would it be too cold for the crystals to grow in our window sill? We’re in MN and temps have been between 20-40 most days.

November 11, 2012 at 12:18 am

Hi Aryn! I honestly have no clue since I have only made it in the summmer/early fall. Sorry I couldn’t be of much help :/

July 29, 2017 at 8:30 pm

Totally Awesome

November 21, 2012 at 10:46 am

Wow! A classic boiled sweets recipe!

They look fabulous, good job!

January 8, 2013 at 4:48 pm

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

February 6, 2013 at 4:50 pm

I made these, they seem to have turned out fine- except for the fact they are completely stuck to the bottom on the jars! I atacked a couple with a knife and ate a small peice. Is there any way to get the lumps out without melting the whole lot?

February 6, 2013 at 5:16 pm

Oh no! The sticks may have been a bit too close to the bottom of the jar, but it sounds like they grew a decent size for you! I’m not sure how to break them out without breaking the candy. Ours didn’t hit the bottom. Crystals grew along the bottom, but they weren’t attached to the wooden stick. I’m so sorry!

February 9, 2013 at 10:53 pm

It’s not too terrible, two candies came out perfectly, another one fell apart and the last 2 are stuck. I’ll try holding them over steaming water and hoping they come out all right. The broken pieces I managed to chip out are so pretty and sparkly, I love looking at them in the light before eating them haha

February 22, 2013 at 1:46 pm

What if I used way too much sugar and after a day it looks almost solid?

February 22, 2013 at 4:14 pm

Hmm…I’m not sure. If after another day or two you don’t see any growth, you might try pouring it back in a pan, add a bit if of water to dilute it and reheat it to make the syrup again. I’d just hate to see it go to waste! I would still wait at least a day though.

March 24, 2013 at 5:19 pm

What an awesome experiment/recipe to try with my kids! I’m curious… Has anyone tried flavoring their syrup with any sort of extracts? I would love to try it, just not sure how much to use. I guess that’s why it’s an “experiment”! 🙂

March 25, 2013 at 3:38 pm

So many people have mentioned flavoring it, but haven’t reported back to say if they’ve tried it or not! I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! Maybe try different amounts in each glass! Have a great week!

February 20, 2014 at 12:03 pm

We used food flavoring that we bought from getsuckereddotcom and it tastes amazing! Our personal favorite was Blue Raspberry 😀

February 20, 2014 at 9:55 pm

Great tip, thanks!!

April 3, 2013 at 5:58 am

i love candies http://www.tollywoodpolitics.com

April 15, 2013 at 3:58 pm

I love this activity. I have 3 daughters and we made this one of the nights events during a 12 girl sleep over. I used the smaller mason jars and labeled each jar with the girls names. I did a test 2 weeks before and found that you really need to have a very good sugar base started on each stick to get the best results. We used the solid food coloring and hard candy flavoring. To help with keeping the bugs away I used some of those outdoor pop up nets you use for outdoor dinners over your plates. The girls loved that they got to see a progress report every evening on their Instagrams. Day seven they were all over after school to collect their rock candy. Thank you

April 15, 2013 at 8:03 pm

3 drops of flavoring is perfect for each jar.

April 15, 2013 at 8:50 pm

Wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with making rock candy! And THANK YOU for giving us the right ratio for flavorings. I’ve had several readers ask about flavoring the candy, but I’ve only made it with straight sugar for my kids.

April 15, 2013 at 10:07 pm

Your welcome. 🙂

April 15, 2013 at 4:00 pm

April 15, 2013 at 4:02 pm

April 23, 2013 at 7:14 am

Hey!! Thanks for sharing with us…it was really nice…London Czech escort Erica provides escort services in Knightsbridge. Click Here

June 1, 2013 at 4:45 am

Just a thought, it seems like the darker colors did better. Maybe attracted more sunlight. Yellow and pink seem to be smallest and are also the most translucent.

June 2, 2013 at 3:51 pm

That is interesting and did seem to be the case with ours!

June 2, 2013 at 2:33 pm

How would you go about adding flavor please?

June 2, 2013 at 3:52 pm

I would just add a few drops of flavoring to each jar/glass before putting in your stick.

June 27, 2013 at 4:54 pm

oh my goodness. It’s like you were reading my mind! I came to your blog today, specifically looking for this exact post! I’m totally weirded out.

June 28, 2013 at 3:43 am

That’s funny! Stacy and I do things like this all the time. It must be the Whitaker genes 🙂

July 17, 2013 at 5:59 am

adult candy

August 9, 2013 at 2:36 pm

We tried several years ago to make rock candy without success. We’ll give it a try with your recipe.

September 28, 2013 at 10:03 am

If you are having problems making the rock candy, here is a tip that might help.

Unlike the article says, warm, humid areas do not help the crystals form at all! Heat evaporates the water, yes, driving the sugar to crash out of the solution (LeChatelier’s principle). This cannot happen in humid environments. The sugar solution in a warm environment won’t always come out stuck to the stick like you want it to though. In order to make the sugar crash out into the nice cubic pattern stuck to the stick, you want to get the stick in the syrup solution while it is still warm/hot, then immediately store in a cool, dry place. A warm place will cause the sugar to not want to join the crystalline structure on the stick and might not even cause any sugar to come out of solution (warm liquids can hold more solute).

Background: Master’s degree in Organic Chemistry, where crashing compounds out of solutions is common practice.

October 15, 2013 at 1:39 pm

smart idea and im sure it tastes good imma do it in class for an expirement!!!!!!!!!!!!! XP

November 5, 2013 at 8:32 am

We used to do this when I was a kid, but instead of skewers we used string.

November 5, 2013 at 8:35 am

My son is making some for cubscouts right now with string! Works the same! 🙂

December 27, 2013 at 1:00 am

We put our skewers through unbleached coffee filters to keep the dust and pet hair out of our jars but allow for evaporation. It seemed to work well. Also, when we made this during a high humidity period it was a complete failure (but still fun.)

January 26, 2014 at 5:01 am

Just curious but….my daughter and I are using this as her science project and after one day the glasses looked a little odd. We did three glasses and the surface all have the crystals on top but none on the actual candy sticks. Is that normal? Are we doing this right? We made sure to saturate and roll them in sugar but the sugar base has come off in the water. Please help!

January 26, 2014 at 10:57 pm

Ours did that too! I don’t think we noticed crystals until growing until day 3 or so. By day 7 we almost had to chip the top layer a bit to pull the sticks out. We’ve made this and had it fail too. If by day 3 (4 at the latest) you don’t see any growth, go ahead and heat the syrup up and try again. The fact that your syrup is hardening a bit is a good sign that you used enough sugar. I know you can make it with string too instead of wooden skewers. I’m not sure about the lollipop sticks. Good luck! 🙂

January 26, 2014 at 5:08 am

After going back and rereading through the process and materials, I wonder if we shouldn’t have used the sticks we did. It looks like you guys used wood instead of the candy sticks (like the type you would use for cake pops). I wonder if that makes any difference. Maybe if we don’t see any growth after three days we will start over using kabob skewers in hopes it will work better.

January 26, 2014 at 12:05 pm

I remember doing this in science class when i was a kid and the ratio was 500 ml of water to 5 lbs of sugar.. This is crazy that i remember this cause im 48 yrs old.. wow how the mind works..LOL

January 26, 2014 at 10:53 pm

Haha, we remember what is important, right? I never made it as a kid, but had a great time making it as an adult…I just didn’t care to eat it. It was fun to watch grow 🙂

January 28, 2014 at 3:10 am

We tried several years ago to make rock candy without success. We’ll give it a try with your recipe.

February 20, 2014 at 3:05 am

how many does this make at one time? thank you.

February 20, 2014 at 8:24 am

Hi Donna, we used 8 glass cups and were able to get 10 rock candy sticks from those. If you have wide jars you can get two from each jar, but ours were skinny glass cups and the ones that made two were really small. I would stick with 1 stick per glass or small jar.

March 4, 2014 at 1:51 pm

Well I have to ask because i haven’t seen anything about it. What to do when they come out if the jar? They are dripping syrup! I don’t want my daughter eating them like that as it causes too much of a mess. Should I pat with paper towels? The syrup is so thick I don’t know that paper towels with soak it up.

March 4, 2014 at 8:36 pm

Hi Cynthia! I held the lollipop over the jar to let most of it drip off and then set it on a cookie sheet to dry. You can also leave the clothespin on and just transfer it to an empty jar to let the excess drip off and let the lollipop dry. I will add this to the post in case anyone else is wondering too!

March 15, 2014 at 8:37 pm

my is growing out of control all over the glass but it wont grow on the skewer can you please help????

March 15, 2014 at 8:43 pm

Hi austin! I would just recommend taking your sticks out, rolling them in sugar and adding them back. Hopefully the sugar will give the syrup something to stick to. The fact that the crystals are growing on the glass means that your syrup is at a good saturation and so the only other thing I can think of is the sticks. Good luck!

May 22, 2014 at 11:43 am

How awesome! Ive always wanted to make these on a stick! I have a question that may have already been asked! Sorry! Once one stick is done growing, is the jar of syrup still good to make another one?

May 22, 2014 at 7:24 pm

Hi Heather! After 5-7 days, there are crystals growing on the bottom of the glass too. I also found this online that said “Rock candy is formed because the solution is “supersaturated” with sugar. Once it forms, the syrup is not supersaturated anymore and will not make more rock candy unless more sugar is again dissolved in it.” Hope that helps!

May 27, 2014 at 11:02 am

Question, can the solution be used over again if boiled again and a new stick or string put in?

May 27, 2014 at 10:38 pm

Hi Emma! I haven’t tried reusing the solution before because mine usually grow solid crystals on the bottom and sides of the glass as well, but from what I have read from other sites you can reuse the solution if it has been reheated. If it has a slight cloudy look the sugar is still saturated in the syrup. If it looks completely clear, add a little more sugar. Good luck!

August 17, 2014 at 11:02 pm

The most important part is the temperature it boils at, Just 50 degrees off can give you a flexible candy instead of a hard one.

February 11, 2016 at 11:03 am

Do you think this would work with something like coconut sugar or stivia?

February 11, 2016 at 12:24 pm

Hi Jamie! I honestly don’t know. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help! I’m not sure how they compare to sugar. I know you can substitute when baking, but am not sure for things like this.

August 10, 2017 at 9:15 am

I want to make the solution and provide the pegs and sticks as party favours…will it be fine if sticks are dipped into solution a day or two later?

August 11, 2017 at 7:31 am

I would think that would be absolutely fine!

September 27, 2020 at 2:06 pm

Can jello be used for color and flavoring. Of course not a full pkg. I have some dry jello left over from a recipe i tried that completely didnt work. But i dont want to throw it out. But not able to make jello from due to the difference in how much is left. This would also allow me to give some unique flavors without having to go out anc buy different flavorings.

September 28, 2020 at 9:09 pm

Hi Angie! I’ve never thought of using Jello before. Honestly, I’m not sure!

[…] This one falls in to the patient category because you do have to wait for those crystals to grow, but I promise it will be worth the wait. The boys followed a recipe by a very creative mommy blogger that shared her secrets {and tips} to rock candy. You can find her scientific and delicious recipe here. […]

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Science Projects > Chemistry Projects > How to Make Crystals: Grow Your Own Crystals  

How to Make Crystals: Grow Your Own Crystals

What are crystals and how do they form? With these crystals growing science experiments, you will grow crystals of your own to find out more about these fascinating and beautiful wonders! A crystal is a solid material with atoms and molecules that are arranged in a consistent repeating pattern, creating one of seven geometrical shapes. Crystals can be expensive and beautiful, like amethysts or diamonds. But they can also be found right in your kitchen in the form of sugar and salt! You can easily grow crystals by adding a crystal-forming chemical to water and waiting for the water to cool or evaporate.

Here you’ll find five different methods for how to grow crystals. Science experiments with instructions are provided for each. How does the chemical used affect the crystals grown? Which crystal growing science project is your favorite?

Crystal Growing Science

• Rock Candy Sticks

Get ready to watch some cool crystals grow! And when you’re done, you can eat them or give them away as Christmas gifts! Click here to download a rock candy crystals printable.

What You Need:

• 1 1/2 cups of white sugar
• 1 cup of water
• Small plate
• Several 250 ml beakers or small clean jars
• Cake pop sticks or wooden skewers
• Food coloring pack (optional)
• An adult to help you

Note: You can make Rock Candy without sticks. Use a piece of clean cotton string or thread. Follow steps 2-7 below then dip the string into the solution so that half of the string is coated. Take the string out and let it dry. Once the string has dried, tie the clean end around a pencil and put the dipped end back into the glass of sugar water solution, balancing the pencil across the rim of the glass. Make sure the string does not touch the bottom or the sides of the glass, or your crystals will not form right! When your piece of “rock candy” is as big as you want it to be (about one week), take it out of the glass, let it dry, and enjoy!

1. Fill a glass with water, pour some sugar on a small plate, and lay out a sheet of waxed paper. Dip one end of each stick (cut pointed ends off if you use skewers) into the water and then roll it in the sugar, tapping it gently to remove excess. Set each stick to dry on the waxed paper.

2. Pour the cup of water into the saucepan and add 1/2 cup sugar. Stir it well until no more sugar will dissolve. Add more sugar (1/2 cup at a time) until you can’t get any more to dissolve even after stirring for several minutes. You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups sugar dissolved in the saucepan. It’s OK if there is some undissolved sugar at the bottom of the pan. (You now have a saturated sugar solution.)

3. Ask an adult to help you heat the sugar mixture on the stove until it boils, stirring the whole time. Turn the heat to medium-low and keep stirring until all the sugar dissolves. (Now you have made a supersaturated solution!)

4. Keep cooking the liquid and stirring it until it becomes clear, but not for more than 5 minutes, or it will get too hot and turn into hard candy! Turn off the stove as soon as it starts to look clear.

5. Move the pan off the heat and allow it to cool down until the pan is no longer hot (the sugar solution will still be slightly warm).

6. Have an adult slowly pour the thick sugar solution into the jars. Fill each about 2/3 full, or enough so that sugar solution will cover several inches of your sugar-coated sticks.

7. Add 5-6 drops of food coloring to each jar and stir. (Optional: Only do this step if you want to make different colors of rock candy!)

8. Once the solution is cool and the sugar-coated sticks are completely dry, place several sticks into each jar.

9. Carefully move the jars to a place where they won’t be disturbed. Check them every other day and gently stir the sticks around in the sugar solution to break up any large crystals forming on the surface.

10. Within a few days, you should start to see crystals growing on the sticks. After about one week, you will probably have a lot of crystals. When your “rock candy” crystals are as big as you want them to be, take them out of the jars and set each color of candy in a clean glass to dry.

11. Once they are dry, you can wrap in cellophane food wrap and tie with ribbon for a sweet Christmas gift!

What Happened:

In step two you made a saturated solution—there was so much sugar in the water that it couldn’t dissolve any more sugar and some was left in the bottom of the pan. Once the saturated solution started to heat up, the water was able to dissolve even more sugar and a supersaturated solution was formed in step three. Then, as the solution cooled, the sugar molecules in it started to join with the sugar molecules on the sticks. The sugar on the sticks are called “seed” molecules and the sugar molecules in the solution attached themselves to the seed molecules.

Meanwhile, the water in the solution started to evaporate or dry up into the air, leaving only sugar molecules behind. More sugar molecules gradually joined with the ones already on the stick, forming larger crystals. Because all of the solute molecules are the same (they are all sugar), they all form the same shape of crystals and they all stick together, making a big chunk of sugar crystals that are pretty to look at and tasty to eat!

Note that this is a special science project that is safe to eat because you only used food products, not chemicals. Plus, you used clean dishes from your kitchen. Never eat any experiment unless it is made entirely out of food and you only used clean dishes to prepare it!

Back to top ^

• Sparkly Crystal Ornaments

In this project, you use a chemical called Borax to grow crystals shaped like snowflakes, stars, or candy canes. Then you can use them as pretty decorations!

• Wide-mouth jar
• Pipe cleaners
• 1-cup measuring cup
• Food coloring (optional)
• Glow-in-the-dark paint (optional)
• Ribbon (optional)

What You Do:

1. Twist pipe cleaners into whatever shape you’d like (we chose a simple star). Note: Make sure your pipe cleaner shape will fit easily into your jar with plenty of space around the mouth of the jar as the shape will be slightly wider once crystals have formed on it, making it harder to remove!

2. Tie a piece of string to one point of the shape. Tie the other end around the middle of a pencil.

3. Hang the shape in the jar with the pencil resting across the mouth of the jar. Make sure that it hangs without touching any part of the jar. Take it out of the jar and set it aside.

4. Use a 1-cup measuring cup to count how many cups of water you need to fill your jar about 3/4 full. Then microwave the jar of water for 3-5 minutes or until it begins to boil. Have an adult carefully take the jar out using hot pads (the jar will be very hot!) and set it on a heat-safe surface.

5. For every cup of water you put in the jar, measure three tablespoons of Borax. Stir the Borax solution with a spoon until as much of it dissolves as is possible. If you don’t see any tiny pieces of Borax floating around in the jar, add another tablespoon and stir. This will make a saturated solution.

6. Hang your pipe cleaner shape in the jar so that it is completely covered in the solution. Let it sit overnight. Gently remove your now crystal-covered shape in the morning and let it dry by setting it in a dry glass.

7. Optional: To make colored crystals, use colored pipe cleaners and add 5-10 drops of food coloring to the solution in step five. To make your snowflakes glow in the dark, paint the pipe cleaner shape with glow-in-the-dark paint in step one and let it dry completely before continuing. Once the crystals have dried, cut off the string and tie a ribbon to one point of your crystallized shape to make a Christmas tree ornament! These ornaments are fairly sturdy and make lovely Christmas gifts for friends, teachers, or family members.

As in the rock candy project, you made a saturated solution of Borax, which is a chemical that forms crystals when the conditions are right. By mixing it with hot water and letting it cool and having something for the Borax (solute) molecules to attach to (the pipe cleaner shape), you gave the solution the right conditions to grow crystals! Once the crystals started to grow on your shape, more and more crystals formed around them. Ice crystals that real snowflakes are made of are not quite like these Borax crystals, but they do look sort of similar and they both are pretty and sparkle when light shines on them.

Real ice crystals are made only of water. The difference is that they are formed when water vapor in clouds freezes and falls to the ground as snowflakes! Frost is another form of ice crystals that you might see on windows and grass on cold mornings. To learn more about snow and ice crystals, check out our Snow and Hail  article.

How to Grow Crystals at Home

Table of Contents:

Quick Crystal Cup

Growing gems.

• Salt vs. Sugar

Taking It Further

• Crystal Growing Science Kits

Some crystal growing science projects can take several days. But this super-easy recipe gives you a cup full of needle-like crystals in just a few hours!

• Buy magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt)
• Food coloring pack
• 250 ml beaker
• In the beaker, stir 1/2 cup of magnesium sulfate with 1/2 cup of very hot tap water for at least one minute. This creates a saturated solution, meaning no more salt can dissolve in the water. (Some undissolved crystals will be at the bottom of the glass.)
• Add a couple drops of food coloring if you want your crystals to be colored.
• Put the beaker in the refrigerator.
• Check on it in a few hours to see a beaker full of crystals! Pour off the remaining solution to examine them.

Epsom salt is another name for the chemical magnesium sulfate. The temperature of the water determines how much magnesium sulfate it can hold; it will dissolve more when it is hotter. Cooling the solution rapidly encourages fast crystal growth, since there is less room for the dissolved salt in the cooler, denser solution. As the solution cools, the magnesium sulfate atoms run into each other and join together in a crystal structure. Crystals grown this way will be small, thin, and numerous. To grow large single crystals, you’ll need to follow the evaporation procedure in the next project.

You can grow single, large crystals that look like gems by using a seed crystal. Here’s how to do it:

• Alum (you can often find this in the spice aisle of the grocery store)
• Clean 250 ml beaker or jar
• Saucer or shallow dish ( plastic petri dishes works, too)
• Fishing line

1. In one 250 ml beaker, slowly add alum to 1/4 cup of very hot tap water, stirring to dissolve. Keep adding the alum until no more will dissolve: this is a saturated solution. Pour a little bit of this solution into a shallow dish or saucer and let it sit undisturbed overnight. Make sure you only pour the clear solution, not any of the undissolved material. (You can pour it through a coffee filter if necessary.)

2. The next day you should see small crystals growing in the dish. When they look to be a good size, carefully pour off the solution.

3. Make another saturated alum solution with about 1/2 cup of hot water. Pour the solution into a clean beaker or jar; avoid pouring any undissolved material.

4. Remove the biggest and best-looking of the small crystals from the saucer to use as your seed crystal.

5. Get someone to help you tie the fishing line to the seed crystal. This can be tricky; a pair of tweezers will help! If you need to, you can score a groove in the crystal to hold the line in place.

6. Tie the other end of the fishing line to a pencil, then set the pencil across the top of the jar so the seed crystal is suspended in the alum solution without touching the sides or bottom of the jar. (You may need to adjust the length of the fishing line: just wrap it around the pencil until it is the right length.) Note: if your seed crystal starts to dissolve, that means your solution isn’t saturated enough. Remove the seed quickly and add more alum to the solution, filtering off any undissolved particles.

7. Cover the jar with a paper towel to keep out the dust and let your crystal grow until you are happy with its size. When you take it out of the solution, set it on some plastic wrap to dry.

Note: if you see other crystals growing in the jar, transfer the solution and seed crystal to another clean jar.

The small crystals that formed in the saucer grew because of nucleation. A few alum molecules found each other in the solution and joined together in a crystal pattern. Other alum molecules continued to join them until enough molecules gathered to become a visible crystalline solid. (Chemists call that a crystal “falling out of” the solution.) If you left these crystals in the solution they would continue to grow, but they wouldn’t get very big because they would all be competing for the remaining alum molecules in the solution. Instead, you took one crystal and used it as the only nucleation site in the solution. It was the primary site for the alum molecules to join together, so the crystal could grow quite large!

#5: Salt vs. Sugar

How can you tell the difference between sugar and salt crystals? They’re both crystals and they look very similar—they are both small, white-colored grains. Of course if you tasted each of them, you would know right away which one was salt and which was sugar because they taste very different. In this project you will find out how to tell sugar and salt apart just by looking at them!

• A teaspoon of table salt
• A teaspoon of white granulated sugar
• Two sheets of black construction paper
• A small magnifying glass
• Crystals worksheet

1. Put a teaspoon of salt on one sheet of black paper and a teaspoon of sugar on the other.

2. Use your fingers to spread the grains apart a little so you can see them better. Now look closely at the grains on each sheet of paper and compare how they look. Do you notice any differences between the two?

3. Now use your magnifying glass to look up close at a few grains of the salt. What shape are they? Are they all about the same shape? Draw their shape in the correct spot on the worksheet.

4. Now take a look up close at a few grains of the sugar. What shape are they? Are they a different shape from the salt crystals? Do you notice anything else that makes them look different from the salt? Draw their shape on the worksheet.

Sugar and salt grains are actually tiny crystals. Can you tell if the picture to the left is salt or sugar? It’s sugar!

If you were to make a saturated solution of salt and one of sugar, you would be able to see them grow into much larger crystals, but they would always have the same shape as these tiny crystals do! The salt crystals are cube shaped (like dice) and have six sides. The sugar crystals are very rough looking and are shaped more like rectangles with pointed ends.

Most of the crystals are the same shape and size and look very similar to each other, but you probably saw a few crystals on your paper that looked a little different. Those crystals probably had pieces broken off of them, or there might even be more than one crystal stuck together, making them look different from the others. Also, the coloring of the crystals is a little different. Sugar crystals look very clear and sparkly while salt is duller and looks more white-colored or frosted.

There are many factors that affect crystal growth, so crystal projects are great for scientific experimentation and science fairs. For example, many crystals are formed because of evaporation. Temperature and humidity are two things that affect the rate of evaporation, so you could design an experiment to see how different temperatures and humidity levels affect the rate of crystal growth and the size of crystals. Another aspect to test is the rate at which your solution is cooled: if you make a solution with boiling water, will crystals grow better if it’s allowed to come to room temperature slowly or if it’s cooled in the refrigerator?

There are many substances that can be used to grow crystals. You could design an experiment to test which one grows larger crystals under the same conditions. Try alum, Epsom salt, table salt, sugar, baking soda, or non-household chemicals like copper sulfate (blue crystals) and potassium ferricyanide (red crystals); adult supervision is required for the last two.

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. Recipe annotations will appear in a new window.) (Images courtesy of FEI Company) 1. Heat the water in the saucepan over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. 2. Completely dissolve the sugar in the boiling water, stirring continuously with the wooden spoon until the solution grows clear and it reaches a rolling boil. • What does hard-ball stage mean and how can I tell when I’ve reached it? 3. Remove the solution from the heat, and then carefully pour it into the jar. Cover the jar with a small piece of waxed paper. 4. Tie the weight to one end of the string, and then tie the other end to the middle of the pencil. The string should be about two-thirds as long as the jar is deep. Dip the string into the sugar solution, remove it, lay it on a piece of waxed paper, straighten it out, and let it dry for a few days. • Why does the string need to be soaked and then dried ? 5. Gently suspend the prepared string in the solution and let sit at room temperature, undisturbed, for several days. You can check each day to see how much your crystals have grown. It’s tempting, but don’t touch the jar until the experiment is finished—it usually takes about seven days. • What makes the crystals grow? 6. At the end of the week, the crystals on your string should be clearly defined, with sharp right angles and smooth faces of various sizes. In the field of crystallography, these are called monoclinic crystals. Their shape is determined by the way the individual sugar molecules fit together, which is similar to the way the shape of a pile of oranges is determined by the shape of the individual oranges and the way they stack together. • Try adding food coloring or flavoring to your sugar syrup before making the rock candy. © Exploratorium | Use Policy | Privacy Policy 327 COMMENTS Growing Rock Candy Crystals In this science fair project you will make a saturated solution of sugar and water in order to grow your own rock candy sugar crystals. You will compare the rate of growth between rock candy that is left to nucleate on its own in the solution, and rock candy that starts off with some assistance. To assist this rock candy, you will jump-start ... Grow Rock Candy Crystals Good science fair projects have a stronger focus on controlling variables, taking accurate measurements, and analyzing data. ... In this activity, you make a saturated solution of sugar and water and grow rock candy sugar crystals. To speed up the process, you jump-start the nucleation process by adding sugar crystals, called seed crystals, to ... Sugar Crystal Experiment Many of our precious gemstones are formations of crystal. Check out other crystal science projects like our salt crystals and borax crystals. You can also make edible rock candy geodes. This sugar crystal experiment uses the same saturation principles and makes a saturated solution to form the crystals. Growing crystals is fun for kids and ... Rock Candy Science Experiment: Step-by-Step How-To Guide Anchor it to the top of the container somehow. We used a string and a paperclip. Make sure the string isn't touching the sides of the jar or the bottom of the jar. Put your sugar-water solution somewhere safe to sit for a few days. Watch and wait for your sugar crystals to grow. These are your rock candy crystals. How to Make Rock Candy or Sugar Crystals Grow Sugar Crystals. The procedure is really easy. Dissolve the sugar in the boiling water. Heat the sugar solution on the stove, or in the microwave if you have trouble getting the sugar to dissolve. Once the sugar dissolves, remove it from heat. If you keep heating it, it hardens and burns. Grow Rock Candy Crystal Science Experiment In this fun and easy crystal science experiment, we're going to grow rock candy crystals. Note: Since hot water in involved, please insure adult supervision is utilized. Materials: Sugar Water Measuring cups Clean glass jar Butter knife or popsicle stick Rough string or yarn Microwave safe container Spoon Wax paper Food coloring Instructions: Tie a piece of the string to the center of the ... Rock Candy Experiment Making rock candy is really easy and lots of fun for kids. This activity is a beautiful science experiment and a yummy treat all in one. My kids LOVED checking on their jars each day to see if the rock crystals had grown. Follow this easy tutorial to conduct your own rock candy experiment. How to Make Rock Candy Crystals with Kool-Aid The other thing going on with this is evaporation. During the 2-week period of crystal growth, water evaporates from the jars, too. As the water leaves, there is still more sugar available to grow on to the crystals. Try Some More Kitchen Science Experiments: Kitchen Science: Homemade Hard Candy Lollipops. Kitchen Science: Homemade Butter in a Jar Stay-at-home science project: Grow your own rock candy Fold the paper towel in two and, using scissors, make a small cut in the center to put the chopstick through. 11. Wait. Growing rock candy is a slow process. You'll start to see some crystals by ... Big rock candy science Seedy science. Every experiment starts with a hypothesis — a statement that can be tested. In this case, I'm testing whether seed crystals promote more rock candy formation. My hypothesis will be that using sticks with seed crystals will produce more rock candy than sticks without. To test this hypothesis, I made two batches of rock candy. Grow Rock Candy Crystals: A Sweet & Fun Science Experiment How to Grow Rock Candy Crystals: Step 1: Have an adult place the water in a saucepan and heat over medium. Sugar will dissolve better if the water is boiling or almost boiling. Stir sugar into the water ¼ C at a time. Completely dissolve the sugar into the water following each addition. Rock Candy Experiment for Kids- The Fastest Way to Make ... Find out in this rock candy experiment for kids! Make edible rock crystals in record time! Make seed crystals by dipping your coffee stirrers into water and then dipping them into sugar. Let these completely dry before you add the sugar solution. Heat 4 cups of water and 8 cups of sugar on the stove. Add the sugar in one cup at a time and stir ... Rock Candy Chemistry The most fun recipe to make is probably rock candy! Not only will you get to experiment with candy-making science, you'll get to watch the formation of sugar crystals. Homemade Rock Candy Experiment. Ingredients. 2 cups water; 6 cups granulated sugar; Optional: 1/2 to 1 teaspoon flavoring extract or oil - feel free to get creative! Optional ... Rock Candy Science Project Rock candy is a delicious treat which can teach students about the science principle of how crystals form. Rock candy projects take about 10 days from start to finish, and can be done either in class or as a take-home assignment where students observe the project at home. Conclude the project by allowing students to ... How to Make Rock Candy: Easy Recipe & Tutorial Rock Candy Making Tutorial: To begin, prep the candy sticks. Soak the sticks in water and roll them in a coating of granulated white sugar to "seed" the rock candy crystals (give them a starting point to grow from). Allow the sugared sticks to dry completely (for at least 30 minutes). If desired, use a fine-mist spray bottle to lightly mist ... Science of Candy: Rock Candy: What's Going On? As the water evaporates, the solution becomes more saturated and sugar molecules will continue to come out of the solution and collect on the seed crystals on the string. The rock candy crystals grow molecule by molecule. Your finished rock candy will be made up of about a quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000) molecules attached to the string . How to Make Rock Candy {DIY Project} Here's what you need: Granulated Sugar (for 5 sticks of candy, you'll need 10 cups) Water. Food coloring (if you want to add color to your candy) Mason jars or other receptacles to hold sugar solution. I recommend a standard 16 oz. mason jar. Skewers or sticks to make rock candy on. I use a simple wooden kabob skewer. Rock Candy Science Experiment Pour the sugar water into the jar. Wet your sticks with some of the sugar water and then roll them in more sugar. This will help the crystals form on your stick. Be careful though, if your water hasn't cooled yet the warmth will dissolve it. Hang the stick in the sugar solution with the clothespin and set the jars somewhere they won't be ... Homemade Rock Candy: Tips and Tricks (Video) Here's are a few more tips for making homemade rock candy: Make sure your glass/jars are clear and CLEAN. Make sure your water/ sugar ratio is AT LEAST 1:2- just shy of a 1:3. You want a thick, saturated sugar syrup mixture. Place in a WARM, SUNNY location if you'd like to grow crystals quicker. How to Make Crystals: Grow Your Own Crystals 1. Fill a glass with water, pour some sugar on a small plate, and lay out a sheet of waxed paper. Dip one end of each stick (cut pointed ends off if you use skewers) into the water and then roll it in the sugar, tapping it gently to remove excess. Set each stick to dry on the waxed paper. 2. Rock Candy Recipe Heat the water in the saucepan over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. 2. Completely dissolve the sugar in the boiling water, stirring continuously with the wooden spoon until the solution grows clear and it reaches a rolling boil. 3. Remove the solution from the heat, and then carefully pour it into the jar. How to Make Rock Candy Cut a wooden skewer to about 7 inches long. Spray half of the skewer with water. (You can also dunk it in a glass of water or put it under the tap.) Sprinkle sugar over the wet part, rotating the skewer to cover it. Adding sugar to the skewers gives seed crystals for your rock candy to grow on. Homemade Rock Candy (For Drinks, Gifts & Science Projects) Pour sugar mixture into 6 (8-oz.) jars. Using clothespins (or a pencil for string) to suspend swizzle sticks 1 inch from the bottom of the jar. Be careful for the sticks/string to avoid the edges of the jar. Cover with saran wrap and set in a cool, dry place. Allow rock candy to rest and form for 2 weeks. essay homework paper phd project resume review study thesis