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Water Bead Play: Celebrating Spring - Views From a Step Stool

Views From a Step Stool

Open Minds & Messy Hands

Water Bead Play: Celebrating Spring

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Have you tried playing with water beads yet?? It is definitely one of the coolest trends in sensory play. Mack (3 years old) LOVES playing with water beads. Everything about the process in which they expand, how difficult it is to see them in water, and how they feel in your hands completely fascinates him. These are actually used more commonly in floral arrangements but in my house they are exclusively for play 🙂 You can purchase them at any arts and crafts store but I got mine off of Amazon. The only thing I will warn about is that they are not meant to be ingested, so best to use these with older toddlers or at least under strict supervision. I let Ava play with them but was constantly keeping them out of her mouth. I have seen some people using tapioca pearls as a great edible alternative

however have not tried them myself; although after seeing how much Ava enjoyed them, and wanted to eat them, I think that might be in our near future.

This is how they come in the packages, they are TINY. You can use as few or as many as you would like for your play, I chose three of our spring-colored bags for today’s play. 
Put the water beads in a bowl and add some water, you want to add quite a bit of water they really can soak up a lot. It takes almost a whole day for them to grow to their full size. Mack loves checking on his water beads though throughout the day to see how they are changing and growing so we don’t necessarily mind the wait. Also do you notice how transparent the clear ones are when they are in the water?
Once they grew to size, I put them in a plastic bin with a little bit of the water. We added some plastic insects and some plastic Easter eggs to explore with. I also set out an Easter silicone mold for the kids to scoop the water beads into. It was perfect outside so we took full advantage!

It is so neat to see how different they look out of the water!

At some point Mack decided that adding grass to the bin would be a good idea. I have to say the grass in the water alone was a great sensory experience! It was so much fun. 
You can do so much with water beads, they are great to use on a light table, are easy to make glow in the dark, and can even be used in the bathtub!
For more sensory ideas check out my Sensory board on Pinterest!

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