Teaching Mama

playing, creating, and learning at home

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

facebook twitter pinterest instagram googleplus email bloglovin
  • Home
  • About
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact
  • Toddlers
    • Sensory Play
    • Fine Motor Skills
    • Gross Motor Skills
    • Toys
  • Preschoolers
    • Homeschooling
    • Alphabet
      • Printable Alphabet Packets
    • Fine Motor Skills
    • Gross Motor Skills
    • Math
    • Music
    • Reading
      • Book Activities
    • Science
    • Technology
  • Shop
    • Your Account
    • Cart
    • Checkout
  • Printables Club
  • Member Login

Ten Ways to Play with Water Beads

by Angela Thayer 7 Comments

Playing with water beads is one of our favorite play activities. They are squishy, bouncy, slimy, and are just plain awesome to play with. Here are 10 ways to play with water beads.

10 Ways to Play with Water Beads

1. Sensory Bin

The easiest way to play with water beads is to place them in large bin and let your little one play with them. You can place funnels, cups, scoops, in the bin for them to explore with.

Fun-with-Water-Beads-1024x682

2. Shaving Cream

Add shaving cream to water beads for some super fun messy sensory play!

Shaving Cream

3. Golf Tees

Practice fine motor skills by placing water beads on top of golf tees. We put the golf tees in styrofoam first. You can see how we did it here.

Water-Beads-1024x682

4. Cookie Cutters

Place water beads inside cookie cutters. It’s also a great way to practice counting!

cookie cutter

5. Balloons

Put water beads INSIDE of balloons! I used a funnel to drop the water beads inside of the balloon. Then I blew it up with air.

funnel

After you tie off the balloon, you can shake it and it will make a fun “popcorn” sound! The water beads swirl around and it’s really neat! I only wish I had a clear balloon so you could see the water beads better. It’s also fun to play catch with the balloon because it has to weight to it.

water beads balloon

6. Sensory Balloon Ball

This was fun to make. I just put water beads inside of a balloon and tied it shut. When you squeezed it, it felt really cool! And the water beads popped out! It is a great stress reliever and reminded me of these sensory balloon bugs.

sensory water bead ball

balloon ball

7. Water Beads on Shapes

One way we’ve played with water beads is by putting them on shapes. These are actually bath shapes from Discovery Toys. I flipped them over and he put the water beads on the suction cups. It is great for fine motor practice! I can’t find the Discovery Toys bath shapes anywhere, but these Bathtub Grippy Dots would work.

Half Moon with water Beads

8. Water Beads Bag

To make this play safe for babies, you could put water beads in bags, like the blog Sugar Aunts did.

9. Water Beads Slime

Make slime with your water beads! This is a really fun play idea from I Can Teach My Child.

10. Freeze & Smash

After you’re done playing with water beads, it’s super fun to freeze them and then smash them with your hands or toy hammer.

smashed water beads

As you can see, there are so many fun play ideas for water beads!!

You can find water beads at the Dollar Store, Walmart, or Michaels in the floral section. Or you can buy them on Amazon here.

Just a reminder to only use water beads with kids who do NOT put things in their mouths. If you want to try this with a toddler, I recommend trying these safe edible water beads.

This was day 15 of the 31 Days of Play Series. To see all the play activities, visit here.

Related Posts

  • Sensory Walk – Exploring the Sense of TouchSensory Walk – Exploring the Sense of Touch
  • Safe Water Beads for ToddlersSafe Water Beads for Toddlers
  • Toddler Tuesday: Water Beads & Golf TeesToddler Tuesday: Water Beads & Golf Tees
  • Fine Motor Skills with Water BeadsFine Motor Skills with Water Beads
  • Water Beads for Valentine’s DayWater Beads for Valentine’s Day
  • Sight Word Readers for the Word “Make”Sight Word Readers for the Word “Make”

Sharing is caring!

806 shares
  • Facebook102
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Fun Kid Activities, Indoor Activities, Sensory Play Tagged With: water beads

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

  1. Lynda says

    February 21, 2020 at 2:12 pm

    I want to put water beads in a clear Plastic Christmas ornament. Will they dry out or get nasty closed up like that.

    Reply
    • Angela Thayer says

      March 2, 2020 at 2:44 pm

      They will dry out eventually.

      Reply
  2. Cindy says

    July 4, 2019 at 11:18 am

    Hi I love the idea of matching the beads to the suction cups but I can’t find them anywhere. Do you know know where to find them or something similar? Thank you.

    Reply
    • Angela Thayer says

      July 14, 2019 at 6:26 am

      Ah I wish the ones I was using were still around! Could you use the backside of a bath mat with suction cups?

      Reply
  3. Bethany says

    April 22, 2017 at 2:28 pm

    We recently played with the water beads, and they are so fun! A couple of questions:
    1. Do you keep these for multiple uses? If so, do you keep them in an airtight container?
    2. Do you add more water when they shrink, or do you just toss them at this point?
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Angela Thayer says

      April 27, 2017 at 3:34 pm

      I keep them in an airtight container for about a week. After then, they start to get grimy, so I throw them out. Yes, I add more water if they start to shrink. You can also let them dry out in the sun to reuse them again at a later time. However, they can also melt in the sun, which is a mess, so it can’t be too hot out. Hope that helps!

      Reply
  4. maaja says

    April 27, 2016 at 10:57 am

    I’m very happy to discover this site. I want to to thank
    you for ones time for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoyed every bit of it
    and i also have you bookmarked to see new information in your website.
    maaja recently posted…maajaMy Profile

    Reply
about teaching mama
sensory play crafts printables fall winter spring summer

Search Teaching Mama

Archives


Copyright © 2023 Teaching Mama · Privacy Policy · Disclosure

Copyright © 2023 · Teaching Mama on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

806 shares
  • 102
Teaching Mama
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Cookie Policy

More information about our Cookie Policy