This isn't really an "experiment" as it is a fun and sweet treat. It does take a while. So, it can be a great lesson in patience for the little one.
Supplies:
Skewer sticks
Clothes pins
Sugar
Water
Jar or glasses
For this recipe, We are gonna make 3 cups. (I put 3 sticks in each cup. You can put as many sticks as you want in each cup as long as they don't touch each other or the glass) You can make as many as you want, as long as you keep the proportions 3:1. So, for each cup of water, you'll need 3 cups of sugar.
Pour 3 cups of water into a pot and bring it to a slow boil.
1 cup at a time, slowly stir the sugar into the boiling water.
Make sure the water is clear before going on to the next cup. Repeat this step until you've stirred in 9 cups of sugar or until the sugar will not longer melt. (Whichever happens first)
While that's cooling, wet the skewer sticks and roll them in sugar on the non-pointy end that you will want the candy to form.
After it's cooled, pour them into the jars or glasses.
Once the sugar sticks are completely dry, use the clothespin to secure the sugar coated stick over the jar. (This is very important. If your sugar stick hasn't dried all the way, the crystals will not form!) Make sure that the stick isn't touching another stick or the glass.
Now, you wait. Feel free to check them every couple days to see how they are growing. After about 10-14 days, your rock candy should be formed enough to eat!
You'll notice that mine are different colors. If you want different flavors, you can melt down some candy flavoring in your sugar water mixture. However, my plain nonflavored sugar water worked the best!
How did yours turn out? Let me know in the comments below!
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