Jelly Marbles - Clear Spheres at Steve Spangler Science

Place these tiny, solid spheres in water, and in just a little while you will have your own Jelly Marbles. These superabsorbent marbles are the newest craze around the Spangler Science offices! What starts out as a 3mm pebble, quickly becomes an approximately 20mm ball of jelly! Similar to our Water Jelly Crystals, these Jelly Marbles absorb a lot of water, plus they maintain their spherical shape when they are done growing. Not only are these superabsorbent marbles fun, they teach a valuable lesson about the power of polymers. In fact, Jelly Marbles are an example of amazing Hydrogels... superabsorbent polymers that are saving the environment.

Can't get enough of these growing Jelly Marbles? Check out our Jelly Marbles Kit!

What's included?

50 gram jar of Jelly Marbles
True Colors Color Mixing Tablets
Activity guide

What does it teach?

Like all of our fun and fascinating polymer, or Hydrogel, products, these tiny spheres, teach a big lesson in color, light and the importance these thirsty pebbles can play in maintaining a healthy environment. The possibilities for experimentation are endless when you drop these spheres in water. Put them in one of our Baby Soda Bottles and they grow to the shape of the test tube. Try drying them out to see how quickly evaporation can take over… and then use them again and again. Plus, you can only imagine the fun to be at the Spangler Science offices when Halloween rolls around... imagine the surprise when unsuspecting trick-or-treaters place their hands into a bowl of ooey, gooey, “eyeballs!”

Product FAQ

How many spheres come in the packet?
In the 50 gram jar, there are more than 1,000 spheres!

How large to they get?
They start out as only a 3 mm pebble and grow to approximately 20 mm!

Warning - Small Ball Choking Hazard

good

Lauren - March 1, 2010

This user gave 5/5 stars

this is soooooo cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

GO STEVE SPANGLER

Loved it

Don Findlay - January 22, 2010

This user gave 4/5 stars

Hello, I have purchased quite a few of your products and have enjoyed them all. I do a science club with fourth and fifth grade students. I wish I could get other products that you have. My classroom is right at the front door. I noticed that two or three students would still be here a half hour after school was out. Parents were always late picking them up. One day I invited them into my classroom and gave them a few jelly marbles and told them what to do with them. I teach fifth grade and these students are third graders. Word had gotten around that third grade class and within the next two weeks they were stopping by after school asking if they could have some of those soft round balls. I only had a small amount left so I had to reorder for them. I also did the activity with my four year old grandson. He also really enjoyed it. Sometime I would like to get the necessary materials needed for the double-dipping activity. Thanks, Don K. Schmidt

Melissa Highlands Ranch, CO - December 21, 2009

This user gave 4/5 stars

Before I called the kids over, I let some of the Jelly Marbles sit in a clear cup for about 4 hours. Then, I had my scientists (ages 10,7, and 3) stick their fingers in the cup. Since the Jelly Marbles expand and become absolutely transparent, imagine their surprise! The 3 yo and 7 yo mixing colors for the Jelly Marbles to absorb. Fun! (Note: the kidlets say that the Jelly Marbles feel like eyeballs. I asked them how they knew what a bowl of eyeballs felt like…..but they’re right. We did several of the activities in the guide, but I think lots of fun was had just by handling the Jelly Marbles, squishing them, and wondering why the heck they disappear in water. Everytime someone went by the bowl, they’d say, “That is so cool.” From an educational viewpoint, there are lots of things to talk about; refraction, movement of water and dye (when you use the included coloring tablets), and then watched amazed as the marbles returned to their original size after drying out over several days. Why

AWESOME

Mike O'Connell St. Louis MIssouri - November 14, 2009

This user gave 5/5 stars

I found out about these from the Steve Spangler video on YouTube. I knew I had to get some to play around with. My friends' minds are all totally blown now.

Kids loved this

JL Herndon, VA - November 9, 2009

This user gave 5/5 stars

I got this for my child's birthday party and the kids were amazed to see us pulled the spheres out of the water and then see them disappear into the water when the spheres were placed back into the water. We gave the kids a ziploc bag each which they filled with couple of spheres and some water to bring them home.

Happy Jelly Marbles

Tamara Lewis Steamboat Springs - October 23, 2009

This user gave 5/5 stars

My daughter wanted the jelly marbles and chose to get them with her own allowance money, what a great purchase. You get everything for the money and wonderful learning activities meant for teachers, but just as good and even better for parents! Thanks!

Fun in the kiddy pool

Lisa Littleton - August 19, 2009

This user gave 5/5 stars

Shhh...Don't tell anyone, but I used them with my two year old. He was highly supervised, of course, because I'm that kind of mom. Guess what?!? It's okay to do science with young children. My son LOVED these. He couldn't believe his eyes when we put them in water just before nap time and by the time he woke up, they were huge! Talk about the joy of discovering! I even got a little more crazy and threw a couple in his kiddy pool for him to find. It was a great game. We played this game for hours and it wore him out for a nice long nap.

AMAZING!!!!!

Delaney Walsh Livonia, MI - July 30, 2009

This user gave 5/5 stars

well... i think that these crystle marbles r the best! at my vacation bible school for science we made them and we got to take some home that were not big yet. i really think that they r the best!!!!!!!! (;