growing rock candy 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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How to Make Rock Candy or Sugar Crystals

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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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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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.

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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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If you liked this edible STEM activity, you are going to love the STEM Made Easy Digital Subscription . Each month, you’ll receive 5 fully-planned STEM project guides along with worksheets and instructions for how to make them fun and engaging for kids ages 3-19. Check it out now !

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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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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

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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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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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Rock Candy Chemistry: The Science Behind Crystallized Candy

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Did you know that candy-making is really just a tasty form of chemistry? Next time you bite into your favorite sweet treat, consider the time and scientific experimentation that went into creating a shelf-stable, packaged candy that not only stays fresh but tastes AMAZING.

Learn more about the science behind your favorite Halloween treats, and find out how to create candy experiments of your own at home!

In general, candy is made by dissolving sugar into water to create a solution. Granulated sugar, the most common type used in candy-making, is sucrose, a disaccharide molecule made up of glucose and fructose. When you force these two molecules to break apart, a very tasty reaction occurs: caramelization. The way that we force this reaction to occur is by adding heat into the mix when we try and dissolve sugar into water. Heating up the solution forces the sucrose molecules to break up and caramelize.

But when we do that, the sugar molecules really want to crystallize back into their solid form. Candy-makers use that crystallization process, and some strategic interference, to create the candies that we know and love.

The two basic categories of candy made this way:

• Crystalline candies like rock candy and fudge.
• Non-crystalline candies like caramels and marshmallows.

The key to mastering candy-making and creating amazing sweet treats is figuring out the concentration of sugar in your solution and the temperature that you need to heat it to. Lower concentrations of sugar are used with lower temperatures, since the more you heat your water the more sugar you can force to dissolved. Temperatures range anywhere from 223 degrees Fahrenheit to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Any higher and your sugar will burn (and taste bitter).

Itching to make your own candy at home? 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: food coloring – to give your candy a fun color
• 4 12-ounce jars or one quart-sized jar
• Cotton thread & pencils or 4 wooden skewers
• Candy thermometer

The Experiment

• Clean your jars with hot water.
• For each jar, cut a piece of string that’s a few inches longer that the height of your jar and tape it to a pencil. Position the pencil over the mouth of the jar and wind it until the end of the string is hanging about an inch from the bottom. If you’re using skewers, use a clothespin to hang it in the jar.
• Bring 2 cups of water to a boil over medium high heat, then add one cup of sugar. Stir until it dissolves completely. Repeat this step with all 6 cups of sugar to create a supersaturated liquid. If your sugar is not dissolving, raise the heat.
• Heat the sugar solution until it reaches 230 degrees Fahrenheit on your candy thermometer. This is called the “soft ball” stage in candy-making.
• Remove the solution from heat and add flavorings (no more than 1 teaspoon).
• Carefully wet the strings or skewers in your syrup and roll them in granulated sugar. This will be the base of the sugar crystals.
• Optional: Add 6-7 drops of food coloring to your jars.
• Pour the sugar solution into your jars, leaving some room at the top.
• Position your strings or skewers in the clean jars as outlined in step 2.
• Let your jars sit undisturbed for 3-5 days. Watch your jars as candy crystals form! Make sure you don’t jiggle your jars too much. For larger candy crystals, put your jars in a dark warm room (or the back of the pantry).
• Finally! It’s time to enjoy some tasty candy!

Did you try this experiment? Tell us your results!

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Homemade Rock Candy

Here’s kitchen chemistry that turns a solution of sugar and water into a tasty treat.

Print this Experiment

Science is often referred to as the most fun subject in school mainly because… it is ! It can be a most delicious subject, too. When you make this treat, you’ll be jumping “string-first” into some serious chemistry that’s hiding as candy. You’ll discover and use principles like solutes, solvents, viscosity, sedimentation, solutions, and supersaturated solutions. How tasty does all that sound?

Experiment Videos

Here's What You'll Need

Cane sugar (you’ll have great results with imperial sugar or dixie crystals.), large glass container (microwave-safe), smaller glass jar, measuring cups, heavy stirring spoon, food coloring, string (new preferred), wax paper (or parchment paper), adult supervision, let's try it.

Pour about 3 cups of granulated cane sugar into the large glass container.

Add 1 cup (237 ml) of water to the sugar. Watch what happens as the water bubbles through all that sugar. There’s a lot going on in the container already. Use the heavy spoon to thoroughly stir the water (a solvent) and the sugar (a solute) together to make a solution. It will be very viscous (thick) and heavy because there’s a lot more sugar than water in there. Stir it well!

An adult must help with this Step! You need to give the water some help with all that sugar so warm up the water. If the container is microwave-safe, put the solution in the oven and heat it for two minutes on high. (You can use a cooktop to heat the solution if you prefer.) Heat the solution to the boiling point.

CAUTION: An adult must handle the hot solution and move it to a stable, heat-safe location. Use the heavy spoon to thoroughly stir the solution again. Make sure all the sugar is stirred but watch out for splatters of hot liquid. Notice how the solution is changing by just using heat.

An adult must help with this Step! Move the stirred solution to the microwave (or cooktop) again and heat it on high for another two minutes. Don’t let the solution boil over.

CAUTION: An adult must handle the hot solution and move it to a stable, heat-safe location. Use the spoon to carefully stir the hot solution again. Stir gently because the solution is less viscous (more runny) than before you heated it.

Add 3-7 drops of any food coloring to the mixture and stir it in thoroughly.

Pour the colored solution into the smaller glass container.

You need to use clean string and that’s why new is preferred. On an old roll, unroll some until you get a layer or two under the top layer. Tie the string to the middle of the pencil. Use the scissors to cut off a length longer than the small container is tall. Lay the pencil on top of the small container and trim the string so it’s about 2 / 3 the height of the container. You want it shorter than the container.

Holding the pencil, lower the string into the solution and let it soak for a short time. You want the solution to soak through the string. Lay the pencil and soaked string on a piece of wax paper so the string is perpendicular to the pencil. Allow the solution to cool to room temperature and the straight string to dry completely.

As it cools, the solution becomes more viscous so it might be a trick to push the dried string into it again. You may have to use a slow steady pressure to get it to sink deeply into the solution. You’ll need to allow the string to soak in the solution for a week, too. A paper towel over the container will keep dust and goobers away from your candy – uh, your science experiment. Keep track of changes in the solution and the growing crystals in the solution but don’t disturb them by moving them. Pictures are a good idea!

When you’re ready for the big reveal, lift the pencil and pull the string loaded with crystals out of the jar. Lay them on some wax paper and look closely at what grew on the string. Of course, a taste test will have to be a part of your analysis.

How Does It Work

So, you dip a string into a solution of sugar and water and it seems pretty uneventful. It’s kind of like watching paint dry. How in the world did it turn into a beautiful crystal of candy on a string?

When you mixed the sugar with the water and then heated and stirred the solution repeatedly, you created a supersaturated solution. This means there are far more dissolved particles of solute (the sugar) than the solvent (the water) can normally dissolve and hold at a given temperature. By stirring the sugar in hot water instead of room temperature or cold water, the sugar is dissolved faster in the fast moving (heated) water molecules. As the water cools, the huge amount of sugar particles remains in solution (a supersaturated solution) and it contains more sugar than can stay in the liquid. The sugar falls out of the solution as a precipitate (particles). These connect with other sugar particles, and a crystal begins to grow.

You gave the suspended sugar paticles a great place to begin crystallizing when you dried some crystals onto the string ahead of time. These are “seed” crystals. As sugar particles begin to settle (the precipitate), they join and form crystals quickly with other sugar molecules. You see this crystallization on both the bottom and sides of the jar as well as on the string. Sugar molecules continue to settle and crystalize on the string and on top of other sugar molecules until you pull it out of the solution and enjoy the candy.

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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 · 93 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!

August 24, 2024 at 3:31 pm

Any tips on storing the crystals? I’m actually wanting to make the crystals for a geode cake and wasn’t sure if these would stick together in a bowl. Thanks

August 27, 2024 at 12:12 pm

Hi Tina! I recommend storing the crystals in an airtight container in a cool, dry spot (not in the fridge). Make sure the crystals are dry before storing and you might want to layer waxed paper in between the candy. I hope this helps and that your cake comes out great!!

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• Science Fair Project Ideas for Kids, Middle & High School Students ⋅

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

Find Your Next Great Science Fair Project! GO

• provide starting points for larger crystals. Future growth will be concentrated around these points.   • solution by first heating a sugar solution (a solution in which no more sugar can dissolve at a particular temperature) and then allowing it to cool. A supersaturated solution is unstable—it contains more (in this case, sugar) than can stay in a liquid form—so the sugar will come out of solution, forming what's called a . This method is called . —as time passes, the water will evaporate slowly from the solution. 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 Science Bob Experiments Science Fair Ideas Science Q&A Research Help Experiment Blog more in 10-12 years Make your own rock candy, this experiment requires adult help it deals with very hot liquids be smart and be safe – only do this with adult help., you will need. A wooden skewer (you can also use a clean wooden chopstick) A clothespin 1 cup of water 2-3 cups of sugar A tall narrow glass or jar Clip the wooden skewer into the clothespin so that it hangs down inside the glass and is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the bottom of the glass. (as shown) Remove the skewer and clothespin and put them aside for now. Get a helpful adult! Pour the water into a pan and bring it to boil. Pour about 1/4 cup of sugar into the boiling water, stirring until it dissolves. Have your friendly ADULT carefully pour the sugar solution into the jar almost to the top. Then submerge the skewer back into the glass making sure that it is hanging straight down the middle without touching the sides. Allow the jar to fully cool and put it someplace where it will not be disturbed. Now just wait. The sugar crystals will grow over the next 3-7 days. Want colored rock candy? Add food coloring to your sugar water and make sure sure that it is pretty dark in color for the best result. How does it work? When you mixed the water and sugar you made a SUPER SATURATED SOLUTION. This means that the water could only hold the sugar if both were very hot. As the water cools the sugar “comes out” of the solution back into sugar crystals on your skewer. The skewer (and sometimes the glass itself) act as a “seed” that the sugar crystals start to grow on. With some luck and patience you will have a tasty scientific treat! Enjoy! More Images & Video More from my site ADS (these ads support our free website) Share this page. VanCleave's Science Fun Your Guide to Science Projects, Fun Experiments, and Science Research Variables For Making Rock Candy By Janice VanCleave A Science Fair Project is a cause/effect investigation. The cause is called an independent variable (something you purposely change). Changes in the independent variable affects another variable called the dependent variable. You AFFECT the investigation by making changes in the independent variable. The objective of the investigation is to measure the EFFECT that this change has on another variable, called the dependent variable. Exploratory Experiment Rock Candy An exploratory experiment is performed to provide information about Purpose: To grow a large number of sugar crystals on a string. Identifying Variables 1. Dependent variable: This is generally identified by the purpose of the exploratory experiment.For example: Dependent variable: amount of sugar crystals 2. Independent variable : You now want to identify all the possible variables that might affect the development of sugar crystals. Do this by identify each variable in each procedure step of the exploratory experiment. Exploratory Experiment Procedure + Independent Variables Rock Candy: Growing Sugar Crystals Notice: Whether you plan to eat the rock candy or not, use very clean materials so that you do not introduce variables (dirt–etc) that might affect the results. 1. Place 3 cups of sugar and 1 cup of tap water in a cooking pot. a. quantity of sugar b. quantity of water 2. Heat the mixture to boiling, stirring constantly. As soon as the mixture boils, all of the sugar should have dissolved and the solution is clear with a straw color. Remove the pot from the heat. a. heating the mixture b. amount of heating time (boil for a time period) 3. Add 10 drops of red food coloring. Stir the solution so that it is thoroughly colored. a. quantity of food coloring b. color of food coloring 4. Cover the pot with a paper towel and allow the pot to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. a. cover the pot –use different material b. don’t cover the pot c. cool the pot for a longer time 5. While the sugar solution is cooling, prepare the cotton string and jar. Use a slender jar, such as an olive jar that has a diameter of ————and a height of —————–. Cut a —inch long cotton string . a. length of string b. type of string Tie a Lifesaver candy to one end of the string. The candy serves as a weight to keep the string vertical. a. type of weight b. no weight Drop the candy-end of the string into the jar. The string is to be vertical in the jar. a. position of the string–slanted ? horizontal? Raise the string so that the candy is suspended about —inches from the bottom of the jar. a. height of string in the jar b. string touches the bottom of the jar Tie the free end of the string to a pencil and place the pencil across the mouth of the jar. Note: You want the string to be suspended vertically in the center of the jar with the candy end abou —-inches from the bottom of the jar. a. how string is suspended in the jar Seed the string by dipping the string into the sugar solution, and then sprinkle dry table sugar along the sticky string. a. don’t dip in sugar solution –wet with water or other liquid b. wet with sugar solution but don’t sprinkle with dry sugar Hang the seeded string vertically in the jar, and then cover the jar with a paper towel while the sugar solution continues to cool. a. how string is hung–at an angle? horizontally? b. what the jar is covered with c. don’t cover the jar 6. Place the paper covered pot containing the sugar solution in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. You want the liquid to be cooler than room temperature. a. longer cooling time in the refrigerator b. don’t cool in the refrigerator c. don’t cover the pot d. cover pot with a different material 7. After the solution has cooled in the refrigerator, raise the seeded string from the jar, pour the solution into the jar, and then lower the string so that it hangs in the center of the jar. a. don’t raise the seeded string 8. Cover the jar with a paper towel and set it in a place where it will not be disturbed but can be observed. Note: You do not want the jar moved or vibrated. a. cover the jar with a different material b. don’t cover the jar c. place jar where it will be disturbed–vibrated 9. Observe the growth of the sugar crystals for 7 days. a. observe for a different amount of time–shorter–longer Trouble shooting 1. Crystals grow on the surface of the solution. Remove the crystals with as little disturbance to the string as possible. 2. Crystals grow on the inside and bottom of the jar. Remove the string and hang it in clean jar. Pour the crystallized solution into the cooking pot and bring it to a boil. Cool as before. Pour the cooled sugar solution into the clean jar. Add the string as before. Share this: 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! 12 Days of Christmas Advent Gift For Christians! (QR Codes) Arrow of Light Award {Cub Scout Patches Display} Homemade Circus Animal Cookies Recipe Copycat Subway Double Chocolate Chip Cookies More Posts Like This About Brandy 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. […] Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed . Terms and Privacy Policy Kids Sewing Projects All Sewing Projects Kids Crafts Paper Crafts Free Printables Patriotic Holidays St. Patrick’s Day Valentine’s Day Teacher Gifts All Gift Ideas Home Decor Projects Cleaning & Organizing Kids in the Kitchen Appetizer Recipes Bread Recipes Cake Recipes Cookie Recipes All Dessert Main Dish Recipes Slow Cooker Sides & Salads Holiday Recipes All Recipes Rate This Recipe Recipe ratings without comment. Growing Rock Candy in Only a Few Hours!! Introduction: Growing Rock Candy in Only a Few Hours!! Today I am going to demonstrate a technique I had developed to grow rock candy crystals in just a matter of a few hours, instead of the conventional several weeks. This technique is quite simple, but we will be working with hot sugar liquid here, so this is only to be attempted by someone responsible, and qualified to do it safely. That means if your are just a kid, don't try this without Parent or guardian supervision. Now that is out of the way, we need to go over what we need. First thing we are going to need is a pot to cook the sugar solution in. We also are going to need a candy thermometer, in order to determine the stage at which the sugar solution is cooking at. If we don't have one of these it can be almost impossible to get this right. Were also going to want a measuring cup... Sugar of course, water, and a container to grow the crystals in. I am using a heat resistant plastic container, but I would suggest using something like a canning jar, as they are able to handle some high heat without risk of breaking. We also need something to grow the crystals on, I am using a piece of string, and of course if you plan on eating your crystals you want to make sure it is clean and safe to eat off of. And equally important something to suspend the string off of, I am going to use that pen. Other than that, so long as you have a controllable heat source and a spoon, you should be good to go. Step 1: Add the Ingredients -Take your measuring cup, and measure out roughly 4 cups of sugar, and add it to the pot. As you can see my sugar has clumped up, and would be annoying to try and use for normal baking. So this is a perfect way to use it up. -Secondly, you'll want to add in one cup of water. That's as far as ingredients goes for right now. Step 2: Cook the Solution After that you'll want to turn on your thermal range, what ever it may be, to around medium-high. From here on out we want to watch the sugar water solution very closely, and mix it frequently as to assure it can not burn or caramelize. Also make sure you keep a good eye on your candy thermometer, we need this to get too 230F (110C) or the Syrup stage for sugar. If we bake it to short, it may take a really long time for your crystals to form. We bake it to long, and your crystals may form so fast you don't have the chance to get your seed strand in it before it turns to a solid block of sugar. Also try to keep your thermometer from touching the bottom of your pot for the most accurate reading. Step 3: Prepare Your String So while that's cooking, let's see if we can't prepare what we are actually going to grow the crystals on. The key here is to make sure that we have the string placed where it close to the bottom, but not actually touching it. About and Inch from it should be good. Once we get that marked, next we'll need to tie the string to the Pen, or whatever you may be using for the bridge. If you have excess string you can either cut if off, or like I did wrap it around several times before tying it. And for now we can set that back off to the side, and continue cooking this. Step 4: Continue Cooking, and an Explamation of What's Occuring. Now what we are doing is removing as much of the water out of the solution as possible, creating a super saturated solution. As time passes, and the solution cools the sugar is forced out of it and crystallizes. It is essentially the same thing that happens when you let the sugar crystals grow over the course of weeks, except that instead is using evaporation. Now the main difference is, that even though when we cook this solution and the concentration of Sugar to Water is way higher than the evaporated solution, the cooked solution doesn't instantly force out the sugar from it and have it crystallize... Why is that... Is it just from the heat..? Well no, or not solely at least. It is true that the heat will allow for the Sugar-Water solution to hold a higher concentration of sugar, but that isn't the only reason it stays liquid. What I mean is this solution will take around 16 hours to harden fully, yet it cools off completely in around 3 depending on the container it is put in. So even though it is cool, the sugar isn't forced out and to crystallized right away. Well this is because of a Phenomenon called super-cooling, or at least in part. Cool, what does that have to do with a hot solution..? Well let's first look at what exactly super cooling is, it is a phenomenon when a Liquid or gas does not turn solid even after being cooled past it's freezing point, now a freezing point is not necessarily cold as many people like to believe, a freezing point is just a Temperature in which something turns solid, that does not mean it's cold in the least bit, well at least not by our perspective. For an example, the Freezing point of Iron about is 2,799 Degrees F, touch that temperature with your bare skin and I can assure that frost bite will be your last concern. So with this mind let's understand, that just because the sugar is Hot or warm does not mean it can't be Super-Cooled, once again it is all perspective. So the reason the solution takes so long to form crystals and doesn't turn into a solid block while it's cooking has to do with a few factors. One, even tough we have cooked out enough water that crystals can form and should start to form, they don't do to the super-cooling phenomenon in which a crystals can't form without a nucleolus to grow on. And two, Sucrose otherwise know as sugar, takes a certain period of time to actually form crystals depending on the crystals structure. So the stuff will stay liquid for a time, until it finds something to nucleoli off of. This could be a Speck of dust, a scratch in the container or any number of other imperfections. The rougher they are the better. But the smaller the imperfection, the longer it will take the crystal to grow, as there is reduced surface area. So how we stimulate the crystals to grow is using something called seed crystals, or in our case a strand of seed crystals. This will provide the nuclei point in our super cooled solution to allow the crystals to start growing. And by doing this, help limit it from growing on the walls of the container instead of the string. If you want to see a more dramatic demonstration of a super cooled solution look up a Sodium Acetate otherwise know as Hot ice, demonstration. So now that the long winded sciencey explanation is over, let's continue to bake the sugar solution. If the sugar starts to bubble up like this, don't panic it is alright, just make sure that you dial down the heat a bit as to insure it doesn't bubble over the sides of your pan and make a big mess. A few minutes pass, and we are about to reach the syrup stage, my pot is starting to bubble up again, and as you can see they are a lot thicker now. Notice though now when they break my solution has become clear, that means the sugar has dissolved. looking at my thermometer we have reached the syrup stage, we can turn down the heat now, and let it sit until it cools to around 220 F before we add any flavorings, coloring, or transfer it to the growth container. Step 5: Prepare Your Seed Crystal Strand While that is cooling, we can prepare the seed crystal strand. This is simple, I'll just take the string I had prepared prior, and dip it in the sugar syrup. You might have to use a spoon or something to really get it to coat. After that, take the string and coat it using some granulated sugar, this sugar will act as our nucleation point. Step 6: Add Flavorings, Colorings and Transfer It to Growth Container Once cool to about 220F, you can now add in some flavorings and colors if you want. I am simply going to add in some vanilla flavoring for mine. Once that has been done, if you are going to do it... You can transfer the syrup to your growth container. This is the part you need to be most careful during, you don't want to spill any or make a mess but at the same time you don't want to get this stuff on your skin, It's not called confectioners Napalm for nothing after all. When you successfully do this, you can now add your seed strand, it might try to float, in which, you should be able to rise it up a down a few times to straiten it out. once that that has been completed, now possibly the hardest part. Waiting for your sweet treat to grow. I'm going to leave this for four hours, but you can wait more or less depending on how big or small, you want your treats to be. Make sure you don't leave it sitting for too long though, as if you do you might come back to a block of sugar. Step 7: Let It Grow... Let It Grow! the Wait Never Bothered Me Anyway ;) Please drop me a Comment, a Favorite or a Vote if you got the reference in this steps tittle :) Anyways If you want to see the time lapse just of it growing, start the above video and skip it ahead to 9:07s. The footage there was taken over the course of four hours, but even after 1 hour the crystal has quite a bit too it. The above photo is the Crystal at 4 hours of growth, it is now ready, in my opinion to be removed. Step 8: Remove, Dry and Enjoy Your Treat!! So now that it's been given sufficient time to grow, I am just going too pull it out of the solution. If the crystal does not want to come out easily, you might have to get a spoon in there, by the side and try to wiggle it a little and free the crystal strand. Luckily mine can out fairly easily. As you can see, it is thick with syrup though. All we have to do is hang it up in another container, and let the excess syrup drip off of it. When it is done it should look something like this. Now you can see it here next to a quarter for size comparison, not bad at all for four hours growth. Well thank you guys very much for watching, and if you enjoyed the video Please remember to comment, rate and subscribe!! On one last note, don't leave the excess syrup around to harden otherwise you might have a sugar brick left in your container. It can be cleaned out with hot water, but is a major hassle, and best to avoid. Thanks again, and bye!! "Hey everyone thanks for reading this Instructable, I just want to let you all know all your Support means a lot to me, and makes it worthwhile! This video took 1 day to record, two days to edit. And to bring it here to you wonderful people on Instructables took me another 3 hours to type up, and compose. So all of this is no easy task, and I can only do it because of your support!! Thank so much everyone!!" 273 IMAGES Homemade Rock Candy Homemade Rock Candy The Science Of Rock Candy Growing Rock Candy Crystals Diy Rock Candy Science Rock Candy Experiment VIDEO How Can I Make Rock Candy at Home Using Sugar Crystallization? The SECRET to Making Rock Candy at HOME! (Heart-Shaped) 🍭 Growing Rock Melon from seed Growing Rock Candy Colourful Christmas Candy How a 🌸 Flower Grows Inside Candy 😜! Unbelievable Candy Trick Revealed! 🤩 COMMENTS Growing Rock Candy Crystals Here is a riddle for you: what kind of rock grows? The answer is: rock candy! This delicious candy is actually crystallized sugar and you can "grow" it from a sugar-water solution. In this science fair project you'll learn how to grow your very own rock candy and determine if using seed crystals changes the growth rate of your sugar crystals. Grow Rock Candy Crystals 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 the string first. These actively attract other molecules to join them, so sugar crystals tend to grow on those seed crystals. 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.. How to Make Rock Candy or Sugar Crystals Sugar crystals are called rock candy because these hard crystals are edible. Here is how you grow, color, and flavor them. Stay-at-home science project: Grow your own rock candy Making rock candy is a great way to watch crystals form in real time. It's also an exercise in thermodynamic equilibrium. Also, you can eat it. What's not to love? Rock Candy Recipe Welcome to science at home in this experiment we are making rock candy by crystallizing sugar. This is a simple experiment that can be done at home with some water, sugar and a stove. Rock Candy Science Experiment: Step-by-Step How-To Guide This how to make rock candy science experiment is a fun way to make homemade rock candy while asking STEM experiment questions. Grow Rock Candy Crystal Science Experiment 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. Rock Candy Experiment 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. Grow Rock Candy Crystals: A Sweet & Fun Science Experiment Parents and kids can have a fun time together growing rock candy sugar crystals and learning how igneous rocks form from hot magma. Making your own rock candy is a fun science experiment and it makes a wonderful sweet treat too! Rock Candy Chemistry Did you know that candy-making is really just a tasty form of chemistry? Next time you bite into your favorite sweet treat, consider the time and scientific experimentation that went into creating a shelf-stable, packaged candy that not only stays fresh but tastes AMAZING. Learn more about the science behind your favorite Halloween treats, and find out how to create candy experiments of your ... Homemade Rock Candy A paper towel over the container will keep dust and goobers away from your candy - uh, your science experiment. Keep track of changes in the solution and the growing crystals in the solution but don't disturb them by moving them. How to Make Rock Candy {DIY Project} Homemade rock candy is easy to make! It simply requires a little patience and a lot of sugar. Make it as a sweet treat or as a fun science experiment. 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 show-off their individual projects and enjoy their hard work. Science of Candy: Rock Candy: What's Going On? 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 . MAKE YOUR OWN ROCK CANDY It's easy to make your own Rock Candy! Explore the science of super-saturated solutions while you make a sweet treat. Homemade Rock Candy Homemade Rock Candy is easy to make and doubles as a fun science experiment AND an edible sweet treat! This experiment does take some time and patience - but the wait is absolutely worth it! It is amazing to see how some colored sugar water can transform and crystallize into beautiful, colorful rock candy over a period of just five days. Variables For Making Rock Candy Exploratory Experiment Rock Candy An exploratory experiment is performed to provide information about Purpose: To grow a large number of sugar crystals on a string. Identifying Variables 1. Dependent variable: This is generally identified by the purpose of the exploratory experiment.For example: Homemade Rock Candy: Tips and Tricks (Video) 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! Sweet science: An easy rock candy project for kids Clemmer shares her love of science with her nephews, with at-home experiments such as making rock candy. ( Hear her talk about this and her lifelong love of science in this interview.) This experiment shows how a supersaturated sugar solution creates crystals. Here's how: How to Make Rock Candy Make this DIY rock candy recipe that's part science experiment and part tasty treat. It's so fun for kids to make their own rock candy and watch the sugar crystals grow more and more every day. Choose your favourite colours and flavours and make homemade rock candy sticks in your own kitchen! This post contains affiliate links. Growing Rock Candy in Only a Few Hours!! Growing Rock Candy in Only a Few Hours!!: Today I am going to demonstrate a technique I had developed to grow rock candy crystals in just a matter of a few hours, instead of the conventional several weeks. This technique is quite simple, but we will be working with hot sugar liquid here… 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. essay homework paper phd project resume review study thesis