While water beads are a super fun and engaging sensory experience, they can be very dangerous if swallowed (or costly if put down your drain), so PLEASE use with caution and very close supervision!
NEVER let children play with water beads alone. If your child still puts everything in their mouth, it would be best to hold off on this until they are older.
They’re bouncy, colourful, squishy and so much more. With water beads, the fun is endless, they provide a unique calming and soothing sensory experience for children while encouraging sensory and tactile exploration. Use the beads to teach little ones about colours, counting while improving their fine motor skills.
They start out as tiny hard dark beads, and then absorb water to become translucent marble-sized balls. You can play with them in water, or on their own. They are wet yet solid. They are slippery and squishy and feel amazing to touch.
Simply just touching them – if it’s your first time with water beads, you probably won’t need to go beyond this. It’s such a cool, calming experience.
The transparent ones ‘disappear’ when submerged in water, and if you can scoop them up with your hands to make them reappear again. Magic!
Adding bowls, cups and spoons encourages kids to scoop, pour, measure and transfer.
Add a few sea creatures to create an ocean-themed small world for lots of imaginative play.
In case you are freaking out about the mess, here’s a little secret. If any squish, bounce, or roll into the garden, just leave them!
They’ll shrink back down to their teeny tiny original size in a day or two and will help to drought-proof your soil by retaining water next time it rains.