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in Science Experiments

How to Make Frost in a Can

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This winter, don’t wait for it to freeze outside to learn about frost! Make your own frost using this simple guide on how to make frost at home!

We live in Texas. That means we get, one, maybe up to three freezing days per winter. When we get snow and ice, we usually just end up playing in it because it is such a novelty.

But although we can’t do snow science and rarely get to do ice science, we can still learn about winter and frost in our own frost-making science experiment for kids! You don’t need freezing weather outside to make your own frost in a can science experiment. 

This winter, don't wait for it to freeze outside to learn about frost! Make your own frost using this simple guide on how to make frost at home!

Related: Winter Science Experiments for Preschoolers

How to Make Frost in a Can

This winter, don't wait for it to freeze outside to learn about frost! Make your own frost using this simple guide on how to make frost at home!

You just need a few ingredients for the frost in a can science experiment!

What you need to make frost in a can:
This winter, don't wait for it to freeze outside to learn about frost! Make your own frost using this simple guide on how to make frost at home!

Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links for your convenience at no cost to you.

  • Aluminum cans (we used bean cans)
  • Salt (salt science is our favorite because it is so cheap!)
  • Crushed ice
  • Play tray (we love this one)

If you’re in a rush, these are our favorite weather science kits.

This winter, don't wait for it to freeze outside to learn about frost! Make your own frost using this simple guide on how to make frost at home!

First, I challenged the kids to see if they could come up with how to make frost on their own using ice and our cans. We put just ice in one can, and ice and salt in the other. The kids thought that the can with salt would actually be less likely to produce frost, but as it turned out, that wasn’t the case.

We filled our cans with crushed ice.

This winter, don't wait for it to freeze outside to learn about frost! Make your own frost using this simple guide on how to make frost at home!

One can was sprinkled liberally with salt. We found the more salt we used, the faster the frost formed.

This winter, don't wait for it to freeze outside to learn about frost! Make your own frost using this simple guide on how to make frost at home!

We gave our cans a shake to see if the frost would form faster. It did!

This winter, don't wait for it to freeze outside to learn about frost! Make your own frost using this simple guide on how to make frost at home!

After five minutes, frost was fully formed on the salted can.

This winter, don't wait for it to freeze outside to learn about frost! Make your own frost using this simple guide on how to make frost at home!

The other can, however, barely even had condensation on the outside.

This winter, don't wait for it to freeze outside to learn about frost! Make your own frost using this simple guide on how to make frost at home!

My kids were impressed at how salt could encourage the ice to transform into frost. Monkey thought it would be safe to stick her tongue on the frost, but it stuck! The can really was below freezing! We had to pour extra water on it to get her tongue loose.

Frost in a Can Science

This winter, don't wait for it to freeze outside to learn about frost! Make your own frost using this simple guide on how to make frost at home!

The kids had no idea why salt would make it more likely for frost to form. They had always thought that since we use salt to melt ice on walkways when it freezes, that ice would prevent frost and ice from forming.

But, it turns out that salt lowers the melting point of ice (good for icy walkways). When this happens, the water vapor around the can falls below freezing as well. Frost forms on the outside of the can when the water vapor is freezing.

The can without the salt has a higher melting point that is above freezing. That is why the water vapor only makes condensation and not frost in that can.

More Winter Science

Try these fun and educational shadow activities to teach children about how shadows work and what you can learn from them!

Shadow Science Experiments

Use these simple heat experiments to show kids how convection heat works and why heat rises right in front of their eyes. Fascinating STEM for kids!

Convection Heat Science Experiment

Winter STEM Activities by Grade Level

Try these winter STEM activities for each grade level!

Winter Science Experiments for Toddlers

Winter STEM Activities for Preschool

Winter Science Experiments for Preschool

Winter STEM Activities for Kindergarten

Winter STEM Activities for 1st Grade

Winter STEM Activities for 2nd Grade

Winter STEM Activities for 3rd Grade

Winter STEM Activities for 4th Grade

Winter STEM Activities for 5th Grade

Winter STEM Activities for Middle School

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Filed Under: Science Experiments Tagged With: elementary, ice, jar, preschool, water, winter

About Brenda Priddy

Brenda grew up thinking she hated science. But when her 4-year- old daughter was more interested in reading science facts than fairy tales, Brenda realized she had to learn more. Through simple at-home science experiments, Brenda developed a passion for science and now works as a STEMed advocate with a team of science educators to create hands-on STEM projects and curriculum for kids.

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What is STEAM?

STEAM activities for kids promote the idea that science, technology, engineering, art, and math can all work together to help kids become critical thinkers, problem solvers, and innovators!

Join us on our journey to discover just how much fun science experiments can be.

What we do… 

STEAMsational offers STEM and science lesson plans and teaching resources to provide a firm STEM foundation for children in the classroom or home.

All you need to do is find your supplies, gather your scientists, and let the innovation unfold.

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