Christmas Slime Balls – Holiday Gifts for Kids

When the holidays come around, I’m always looking for ideas for gifts that my daughter can make for her friends. This year, she’s giving slime.  Christmas Slime Balls to be exact.  These fillable ornaments can be filled with the most gorgeously glittery slime, ready for some fun holiday play. This post contains affiliate links.

Slime = Science

What’s better than giving the gift of science?  We owe the cool texture of slime to polymerization when the glue and the liquid starch combine.  Glue contains polyvinyl alcohol that is attracted to borate ions present in the liquid starch. Once they come in contact, long polymer chains are formed.  For another fun way to learn about polymerization, you can make Homemade Fruit Gummies, an edible polymer.

Plus, slime can teach kids about non-Newtonian fluids.  Non-Newtonian fluids behave differently when you put stress on them. You may have seen this affect in oobleck (like in this Snowy Christmas Tree Science). Pull gently on slime and it seems to stretch forever.  Pull hard and it breaks.

Fun Holiday Gifts for Kids

My daughter loves making slime and loves the idea of giving her friends something she can make all by herself.  She’s 4 1/2 and minus a little bit of help measuring and tying the bow,  she can totally make these all by herself.  Here’s how to make your own…

Christmas Slime Balls Supplies Needed

• 1/2 cup clear school glue {affiliate}
• 1 Tablespoons water
• Liquid watercolor or food coloring {affiliate}
• 3 Tablespoons glitter {affiliate}
• 1/2 cup liquid starch {affiliate}
• Fillable plastic ornaments {affiliate}
• Glitter ribbon {affiliate}

1. Cover work surface with newspaper or other protective item.  No really, do it.  Glitter loves to embed into surfaces.
2. Pour glue into a large bowl.  Add water and a squirt of liquid water color or food coloring. Stir until combined. Then add glitter and keep stirring until uniformly distributed.
3. Add the liquid starch and mix until thick and slimy.  Then knead the slime with your hands and return to the starch mixture for another mixing.  This step is important because it makes sure there’s no unmixed glue hiding in the center of your slime ball.
4. Slime too slimy?  Rinse it with water (do not pat dry with paper towels like I did!!!).  Slime too sticky?  Mix it with some more starch.  Slime too hard?  Add a little more glue.
5. Fill ornament with slime.  Tie closed with ribbon, leaving enough extra to hang on a tree.

You can store the slime in the ornament or zipper bag for 1-2 months.  1 batch fills about 2 Christmas slime balls using these ornaments {affiliate}.

Christmas Science, Tech, Engineering, Art, and Math Fun for Kids

Looking for some more holiday STEAM inspiration that use can use right now? Instant gratification style? Check out STEAM Kids Christmas EBook! It’s packed with 25 days of festive projects (plus an adorable printable advent calendar!) that will wow the boredom right out of your kids.