Have you ever rubbed a balloon vigorously against your clothes and stuck it to a wall? I bet you have! This is called static electricity, and it is an awesome science experiment that doesn’t require a whole lot of supplies. Here’s a fun Christmas theme twist on a simple static electricity experiment. Check out more fun Christmas science experiments!

Christmas Jumping Tinsel Static Electricty Science ExperimentPin

Explore Static Electricity For Christmas Science

This simple Christmas static electricity experiment is part of our 25 Days to Christmas Countdown. Make sure to check out our full list of Christmas science activities to plan out your month of December. Enjoy this simple science static electricity experiment below and have fun this season!

What Is Static Electricity?

Static electricity happens when tiny particles called electrons build up on an object, making it either positively or negatively charged.

When these charged objects get near each other, they can do some pretty cool things, like making your hair stand on end or attracting small things, like pieces of paper or confetti.

Think of tiny invisible particles called electrons as little magnets. Everything around us, like your hair, a balloon, or even a piece of cloth, is made up of these particles. Learn more about electrons here.

Sometimes, when two things rub against each other, like when you rub a balloon against your hair, the electrons can get all jumbled up and move from one thing to the other.

When this happens, one thing gets extra electrons, and the other thing loses some. The one with extra electrons becomes negatively charged, like a minus sign, and the one that lost some becomes positively charged, like a plus sign.

So, when you rub the balloon on your hair, it’s taking some of your hair’s electrons, making the balloon negatively charged. That’s why the balloon can stick to the wall or make your hair stand up—all because of those jumbled-up electrons creating static electricity.

Check out more awesome static electricity experiments for kids.

How Does The Jumping Tinsel Experiment Work

When you rub the balloon, it becomes negatively charged. The tinsel pieces are neutral, meaning they have an equal number of positive and negative charges.

When the negatively charged balloon is brought near the neutral tinsel pieces, the extra electrons on the balloon repel the electrons in the tinsel. This causes the tinsel to become polarized, with the positive charges being attracted to the negatively charged balloon, and the negative charges being repelled.

As a result, the tinsel pieces move toward the balloon. This is due to the attractive force between opposite charges (negative and positive) and the repulsive force between like charges (negative and negative).

The tinsel pieces appear to “jump” or move because they are lightweight and easily influenced by the electrostatic forces at play. Can you also make cornstarch jump?

Jumping Tinsel Christmas Static Electricity science White balloonPin

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Jumping Tinsel Experiment

Supplies Needed:

  • Balloons
  • Tinsel
  • Multiple surfaces to test static electricity charge

Set Up:

STEP 1. Blow up your balloons and cut up your tinsel.

Our tinsel had a metal wire running through it, so I simply pulled it out and discarded it. You are now ready to begin experimenting with your Christmas static electricity experiment.

Jumping Tinsel Supplies for Christmas Static Electricity science experimentPin

STEP 2. Rub your balloon against different materials. Hair is a good one to try first. So now you have your fully charged balloon.

Make sure to test different materials to see what happens. We even tested different colored balloons! I had my son running around the house looking for things to rub his balloon on! His hair was by far the best and easiest way to charge a balloon!

Jumping Tinsel Christmas Static Electricity Science Charging Balloon on HairPin

STEP 3. Place the charged balloon near the tinsel but not touching it and watch what happens!

You might also want to test different size pieces of tinsel. We could not get larger chunks to move much. Yes, you can see that the balloon managed to find strands of my long hair too.

Jumping Tinsel Christmas Static Electricity ActivityPin
Jumpin tinsel Christmas static electricity sciencePin

Of course you can also run around sticking balloons to the wall or find other items to test. Tissue paper works well too I have seen. Cut out small pieces to test if you have some. What else works? Let me know! 

White balloon covered in tinsel Christmas static electricity science experimentPin

Fun and simple science for everyone in the family to enjoy. You can keep kids of various ages busy for quite awhile or use it as a quick time filler.

Bonus: If you have a few fly swatters on hand, the kids {and adults} always enjoy a little balloon tennis!

Jumpin tinsel Christmas static electricity sciencePin

More Awesome Christmas Science Experiments

More Fun Christmas Activities For Kids

Printable Christmas STEM Project Pack

200+ PAGES OF HOLIDAY THEME STEAM, STEM, Science, and Art!

  • 25+ Christmas theme science and STEM activities with printable sheets, instructions, and useful information all using easy-to-source materials perfect for limited-time needs. Includes a holiday theme engineering pack with fun, problem-based challenges for kids to solve! NEW observation sheets included.
  • Try a Santa’s Letter airplane challenge or take the gingerbread house-building challenge! 
  • Explore the five senses with a specially designed Santa’s Lab pack.
  • Try a mini nature study with your favorite type of Christmas tree.
  • Try your hand at building shapes with gumdrop structure challenge cards or build shapes with jingle bells. Or try the Christmas-themed paper chain challenge!
  • Christmas Screen-free Coding activities include algorithm games, binary code ornaments, and more!
  • Explore 6+ Christmas Art Projects with famous artist-inspired activities that combine art history, process art techniques, and more with simple to-do ideas. 

2 Comments

  1. Thank you for your collection of STEM activities!! They are going to help us stay in routine during Christmas Break from school! He loves science so we’re doing a Christmas STEM Camp (at home) this year along with maintaining a few academic skills..it’s just what we need to do during breaks:) I’m using many of your ideas in the next 10 days. Thank you for the blessing!

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