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Believe it or not, we had yet to try water beads - the rage around popular kids blogs for months. So we added them to our summer bucket list. Boy am I glad we did! They are so cool!  So basically you put a pack of mustard-seed-size balls in water and 1-4 hours later you have marble size, water-filled, flexible balls!

Being a homeschooling Mom I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to squeeze in some learning too!  So we worked through the Scientific Method:







We also observed how the mass changed as they sat in water longer. But no matter how long they stayed in water after 3 hours they remained  the same. (Don’t they look like marbles!)

Then it was time to let the kids explore & PLAY! They had hours of fun scooping, sorting, and feeling the unique texture.  All the kiddos (and Mom) played, but these pictures of Tinker Bell are my favorites =-)

Note: I do want to point out that although water beads are a LOT of fun & a great sensory experience, they are not intended for children. They are actually for flowers. My kids were closely supervised during our playtime and we carefully looked for any stray bead before finishing the activity. Please use your best judgment if this is a good activity for your child.
What’s your favorite thing to do with water beads?