Your fantasy-loving kid will love making a DIY crystal ball that can magically change color within seconds just like that of a fortune teller or wizard!
Are your children huge fans of Harry Potter and the wizarding world? If so, they will love this easy yet magical crystal ball activity.
Children love books and movies that contain magic and fantasy because they transport them into a new world that is much more exciting than our own. Magic defies the laws of physics and breaks the rules of reality. It’s no wonder that kids love J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
That’s why this color-changing crystal ball craft is going to blow your kid’s mind! We are going to use science to magically transform the liquid inside the crystal ball from one color to another right in front of your eyes.
You can use this activity to craft a DIY Harry Potter Remembrall, Sybill Trelawney’s Divination Crystal Ball, or a fortune teller’s crystal ball. Choose your own colors depending on the effect you want to achieve. It’s the perfect craft to do with kids at a Halloween party!
Materials:
- Clear snow globe (We got ours at Dollar Tree)
- Isopropyl alcohol or rubbing alcohol
- Food coloring
- Color-Shifting Mica powder
How to Make a Color-Changing Crystal Ball
Instructions:
1. Take the cap off the snow globe and remove the inner seal. If your snow globe doesn’t have an inner seal to prevent water from leaking out, you may need to apply hot glue around the cap.
2. Fill the snow globe with isopropyl alcohol, leaving a little bit of room so that when you pour the mica powder into the globe and put the inner seal on the liquid won’t overflow.
Tip: Place the snow globe upside down on the cap to help hold it in place while you pour.
3. Add a few drops of food coloring.
In our case, we are trying to imitate the colors of Harry Potter’s Remembrall. The book described the Remembrall as a ball that contained smoke and it would turn red when its owner had forgotten something. Therefore, we added a couple of drops of black food coloring to mimic smoke.
On a side note, look how cool the food coloring looked as it diffused in the rubbing alcohol!
4. Replace the inner seal and gently shake the snow globe to mix the food coloring and rubbing alcohol.
5. Remove the inner seal. Scoop a small amount of mica powder and add to the rubbing alcohol. There really is no correct amount to add. I would start with 1/8 teaspoon and add more if necessary.
6. Replace the inner seal and the cap. Shake the snow globe and watch the color magically change!
7. (Optional) Use acrylic paint or a permanent marker to color the cap of the crystal ball. We colored ours black to make it more like a fortune teller’s divination ball!
FAQs
Can you make the color change happen again?
Yes, you can make the DIY crystal ball change color as many times as you want!
After you shake the crystal globe to make it change color, let it sit still for a few hours. All the mica powder should settle to the bottom and the liquid should turn back to the food coloring color.
Then simply shake the crystal ball again to make it change color!
Can I use water instead of isopropyl alcohol?
While you can certainly use water instead of isopropyl alcohol for the color change, you won’t get the swirling effect of the mica powder after you shake the crystal ball.
Isopropyl alcohol molecules are significantly larger than those of water, which means that rubbing alcohol has a higher viscosity. Therefore, in comparison to water, rubbing alcohol is thicker and more resistant to flow.
The higher viscosity allows the mica powder to be suspended in the rubbing alcohol longer. As a result, you can see the mica powder swirl in the crystal ball longer, achieving the mystical effect of a fortune teller’s orbuculum.
How Does the Crystal Ball Change Color
If your kids have not played with mica powder, they are in for a surprise! Mica powder is a type of mineral-based, non-toxic sparkly dust that is safe for use in art, cosmetics, and even food.
Due to its unique physical structure, color-shifting mica powder appears to be changing color depending on the lighting and angle. Mica powder is composed of tiny, flat, and lightweight crystals that produce light refraction and interference to create the vibrant hues that we see. This process is what gives mica powder its dazzling array of colors and effects.
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