Tune in every Tuesday at 2:00 pm on Instagram Live as ROM Kids Coordinator and Camp Director Kiron Mukherjee combines his passion for children’s education with storytelling to bring to life science, history and art for you and your loved ones in the comfort of your own home. Kiron will share activities, easy at-home crafts, behind the scenes anecdotes and fun facts—all connected to the ROM collections.
This time on the ROMKids Show we learn all about the ground beneath our feet! Mineralogist Veronica Di Cecco returns to talk about what makes crystals, minerals, and rocks unique. Then we learn about how minerals impact our daily life, from their use in makeup and jewellery, to their use in cell phones and batteries! We’ll also make our own sugar crystals—a delicious science experiment!
MATERIALS:
- spoon
- pot
- wooden skewer
- 1 cup of water
- 3 cups of sugar
- heat safe glass or jar
- clothespins or long hair clips
- food colouring
- flavouring (yes, these crystals are edible!)
1. With your grown-up’s help, boil your water on the stove.
2. Turn your boiling water down to a simmer. Slowly add your sugar to the water and stir until most of the sugar dissolves. Be patient! When it’s done, your mixture should be thick and clear. If you want your gems to be brightly coloured, add some food colouring. You can also add flavouring (like vanilla) if you plan on eating these sugary crystals after!
3. Let the solution cool for about 10 minutes. While it’s cooling, dip your skewer into the sugar-water mixture and roll or sprinkle some dry sugar on it. Let the sugar harden on the stick.
4. With an adult’s help, pour the sugar-water mixture into your glass—I used a mason jar. Place the skewer into the glass, so that the sugared end is submerged. Attach clothespins or hair clips to keep the skewer elevated and away from the sides—we don’t want it to touch the glass, or it will get stuck. Try to leave about ½ - 1 inch of space from the bottom too.
5. Now we play the waiting game! After about a week, you will notice sugar crystals growing around the skewer. Keep your eye on it, and soon you’ll have some large sugar crystals forming! When you are ready to remove your crystal from the jar, you may notice the top of your mixture has hardened. Very lightly crack the surface to loosen your skewer and pull it out.
As the ROMKids Coordinator & Camp Director, Kiron is the public face of the Royal Ontario Museum’s family and children’s programs. Kiron started volunteering at the ROM at age 14 and has never looked back. Though he majored in history at York University, Kiron also considers his early years as a ROMKids camper to be a highly formative part of his education. Now, he strives to provide engaging and educational kids’ programming so that future generations can look back on their ROM experiences as fondly as he has.
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