Activities with water beads are EVERYWHERE on blogs and pinterest. They are THE sensory item of the season. They are HOT! Well, really they are cool - cool to the touch and just plain cool to play with.
Luckily, while in JoAnne's the other day I spotted several packages of these AquaGems on clearance for 50 cents each. I quickly scooped up the last four packages on the shelf. Not sure what was more exciting - getting a stellar deal or knowing that soon we could play with the current IT sensory toy.
Once home I realized that they take 4-5 hours to grow into their full size. Part of me wanted to put them in the water the night before, but I held back and waited for the OWL to start the process in the morning.
First we need about 6 liters of water.
Then OWL dumped in the Aqua Gels. They were tiny - the size of a pin needle really. The OWL couldn't understand why we had all this water for these tiny, tiny little drops.
Over the course of the morning he kept on checking back on his beads. It was a great lesson in patience since we started the process at 7:30am and he didn't start playing with them until after lunch. He loved seeing them "grow" and was able to notice that there were larger each time he checked in on them.
Finally, after lunch he was able to dig into them as they had plumped up enough. ( Water beads look like marbles, but are more like a rubber ball) He loved that they were cool to the touch, squishy, slippery, and slimy! I have to admit there is something relaxing about scooping your hands through them. Of course, out came the trucks and tractors.......
We even moved some to a tray to push around and load up into a truck body.
They really are pretty neat - until you step on one and then you have a squashy mess to clean up. Even Sassy Sis loved playing with them - mostly scooping and pouring. I even caught Daddy having some fun with them!
Now, luckily there isn't a shortage of ideas on how to play with your water beads....
You can find the fabulous ideas here.
No comments:
Post a Comment