Winter/Snow Reading

We are enjoying a few "snow" books this winter season. Chloe's favorite so far is Blizzard by Betty Ren Wright. Grant is using The Story of Snow to write a report about how snow crystals are formed. My favorite book is Snowflake Bentley. Mr. Bentley spent his life photographing snowflakes and gave scientists much of the knowledge they have today on the subject of snow. We keep hoping for some snow here in ABQ, so that we can try our hand at taking some pictures of snow crystals like we found here. Check them out. They are awesome!

Making Snowflake Crystals

In our study of snow, we learned that snowflakes are formed from snow crystals. As the crystals fall from the sky, they clump together to form snowflakes. The kids and I did an experiment to see how crystals form. First, I had the kids make "snowflakes" from white pipe cleaners.

Any shape will do, really.

Next, we floated our snowflakes in a solution of Borax and boiling water by attaching them to a ruler laid over a large Tupperware bowl. For every 2 cups of boiling water, dissolve 1/4 cup of Borax. Add more Borax until a slight amount has not dissolved in the water.

Allow your snowflakes to grow crystals overnight or longer.

It took our solution about 24 hours to start hardening into some really sparkly crystals.

Snow Storm in October!

After yesterday's snow, I couldn't believe it when I looked outside and saw what looked like snow clouds. No! It couldn't be! Not again! It's only October! The kids were finishing up school, and I was posting about the fall picture books we'd being enjoying. Satisfied with my post, I hit the "publish post" button and took a look outside. Sure enough, snow had started to fall. The kids grabbed their coats and mittens and ran outside to investigate, throw snowballs, and build a snowman. Like a dutiful mother, I went inside to make hot chocolate for my chilly children. Enjoy the pictures.