*This post contains affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
We made the most adorable sparkly borax crystal snowman this week. He would be perfect sitting on a mantel or as a table centerpiece.
Not only is he cute, but he is educational as well! Watching crystals form is one of our favorite science activities to do. Our borax crystal snowman complements our shiny borax crystal ornaments perfectly.

I am thrilled with how this project worked out. I’m not usually very crafty. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of times I have used a hot glue gun in my entire life. But one day I had a vision of this cute little snowman and how the crystals would give him a glittery snow-dusted look. It worked out even better than expected.

How to Make a Borax Crystal Snowman
Materials
To Assemble the Snowman:
Pom poms of various sizes
Pipe cleaners (aka chenille stems)
Googly eyes
Various beads and yarn pieces, depending on how you want to adorn your snowman
An acorn top to use as a hat
Acrylic paint
Mod Podge
Hot glue gun
To Crystallize:
String
Pencil
Mug, vase, or jar
Boiling Water
Borax
Directions
Assemble the Snowman:
- Paint the acorn top with acrylic paint. When dry, seal with Mod Podge. Set aside and let dry.
- Use hot glue to assemble your snowman. Be creative! Stick the pom poms together first. Then glue on the eyes, nose, mouth, etc. I cut a pipe cleaner into smaller pieces and glued them to the sides for arms.
- Lastly, glue on the acorn hat. Be generous on the glue on this one.
- Tie a string to the top of the acorn top and hot glue it so it’s good and secure.

To Crystallize:
- Attach the string to a pencil, pen, spoon, or other long object.
- Fill your jar or vase with boiling water. Add 3 TBSP borax per cup of water and stir. It’s okay if some borax settles on the bottom of your container.
- Lower your snowman into the hot water/borax mixture. Make sure it is not touching the sides or the bottom of your container, and that you can get it through the mouth of your container easily. Feel free to trim or bend your snowman accordingly.

- Make sure your jar is in a quiet place where it won’t be disturbed. You don’t want it to get jostled or bumped at all while the crystals are growing.
- After a couple of hours you will start to see crystals growing! Leave your mixture overnight for best results, or remove your snowman after just a few hours if you just want a light dusting of crystals.
- Let your snowman dry on a paper towel for an hour or so. Then pick it up and admire it in the sunlight. Grab your magnifying glass to get a closer look at your crystals!
- Name your borax crystal snowman. Display him proudly. Take a picture and post it on the Science Kiddo Facebook page for us all to enjoy!

Crystal Science
The word crystal actually refers to any material that is arranged in an ordered form. Some crystals (like borax) are arranged into little cubes. Other crystals (like snowflakes) have six different arms. You can make crystals from many substances including salt, sugar, baking soda, borax, and epsom salt.
More borax dissolves in hot water than in cooler water, which creates a supersaturated solution. This is unstable. As the solution cools down the little borax particles come out of solution and crystallize easily onto any surface they stick to.

I can’t wait to see your snowy borax crystal snowman and to hear what you name him! Share a picture on my Facebook page so we can all enjoy your creation 🙂
So now you have a big box of borax. What else can you do with it? How about making some slime? Or crystallizing more stuff like I’ve been doing all week? Let me know what you are up to in the comments!
This post is part of the A-Z STEM Series. Every day during the month of January we will be bringing you tons of awesome science, technology, engineering, and math activities to do with your kids! By the end of the month you’ll have over 50 STEM activities to keep your kids busy learning.

Wicked! It looks so cool!
Thanks, he turned out even better than I imagined he would 🙂
So sparkly! Love it! Thank you for stopping by and linking to Tots at Play! Pinned and shared on FB! 😉
Thanks for stopping by!
Such a clever idea! Snowman look great and sparkly! Thank you for sharing it with us #Pintorials
Thank you!
such a cute little snowman and lesson in one
come see us at https://sciencekiddo.com//shopannies.blogspot.com
Wow! What an awesome project! We’ve never done anything with crystallization – I think it’s time to start. Thanks for sharing with the #made4kids linkup.
That’s great! We’ve made borax crystal ornaments before, and this definitely would be a fun spin off. Love it! #GTT
Wow, what a great craft plus some science learning too! Love this! Thanks for sharing on Toddler Fun Friday.
This is awesome! Genius on the acorn hat. I would have never thought of that. #made4kids
Thus not only looks fab but love the educational element too. Would love to do this with Monkey #Madeforkids xc
Adorable! We may have to try this tomorrow!
Your post, Borax Crystal Snowman, will be a featured favorite on the Hip Homeschool Hop this Tuesday, 12/8/15, on the Hip Homeschool Moms site. We’re so glad you linked up with us last week, and we hope you’ll continue to share your posts on our Hop!
In case you’d like to share this week’s Hop post (with your article featured near the top) on social media or somewhere else, the shortlink to the post is https://sciencekiddo.com//wp.me/p1swZe-9Kz. The link will go live at 6:00 a.m. central time on Tuesday when the Hop post goes live.
Thanks again for linking up with us! I hope you have a wonderful week!
Blessings,
Wendy Hilton
Co-owner, Hip Homeschool Moms
Thank you! I will definitely stop by to share.