Dollar Store Deals ~ Water Marbles, Orbs, Jelly Balls, etc...

Have you ever heard of Water Marbles? maybe Orbs?  or even Jelly Balls?  I gave a presentation at NSTA this year in San Antonio and I was surprised how many of the participants had never heard of them!  You can buy them on-line through Ebay or Amazon or even some science companies.  They can get a little pricey!  Here is a deal, though!  You can actually find them super cheap in the floral/craft department of the dollar store!  At my local Dollar Tree, one jar of them is $1!  WOW!

You can find them already hydrated or as tiny little balls (they almost look plastic).  Add water and they swell and become a little squishy and a lot of fun!

You can get these in almost any quantity on Ebay (and at a great price)!  These water marbles totally capture the kids attention!   They are always amazed by how they change once they are placed into the water.  While they are expanding in size, they contort into all kinds of weird shapes.  We hang up large sheet of white paper and the students write ANY questions they have about the water marbles.  We then decide which questions are testable and which ones are not.  If you are looking for a detailed water marble science lab packet, click here!