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Make Colorful Icicles

What you'll need:

At least three coffee cans of varying sizes

Hammer

Nail

Thumbtack

Heavy string

Assorted food colorings

 

Instructions:

1. Discard the lids and clean each coffee can. Overturn your coffee cans so the metallic bottom faces up. Using your hammer and nail, punch three evenly spaced holes across this surface of each can.

 

2. Push a piece of string through each hole, securely tying a knot at the base of each hole. Be sure your knots are on the outside of the cans' metallic bottoms so that when you turn the can over, you have three pieces of string you could use to carry each coffee can as a bucket. Tie all three loose ends together to create a loop large enough for the can to be hung.

 

3. Use a thumbtack to bore a hole in the center of each coffee can. These are the holes from which your icicles will form, as icicles are formed by the repeated dripping and freezing of water. The size of this hole should vary slightly from can to can, and generally speaking, the larger the hole, the larger the icicle.

 

4.Take your cans outside and fill them with water when the weather drops to freezing temperatures.

 

5.Take your chosen food colorings, such as green, red and yellow, and color the water in each can a different shade.

 

6.Using the loop of tied string, hang each water-filled can right-side up from a safe, sturdy place, such as the limb of a tree. In the morning, your handmade icicles should start to form. As water continues to drip down, your icicles should grow larger, provided the weather remains cool enough for water to freeze.

 

Pink tip:

Do not attempt to fill your cans indoors, as they will likely leak. Make sure to wet the sting with water before bringing it outside, this will help guide the water down it. You can add more colored water to the cans to get different colors.

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