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We first blogged about water beads back in the beginning of June, and since then - WOW - they have really taken off with parents, caregivers, and schools! AWESOME! If you haven't played with these slippery little suckers yet, you are really missing out. Its a great sensory experience for ALL ages.
Click HERE to see our original water bead posts.
Yesterday I bought some clear plastic tubing from a local hardware store ($1.40 per foot). This morning we had a ton of fun using them with water beads. The pics speak for themselves.
"Its like a roller coaster."
Putting water beads in the tubes - great for fine motor skills (and confidence, patience, resilience, etc).
water beads inside the tubes....he wanted to fill them up before dumping them
I tired to get a pic of him dumping the beads.....they came out too fast.
of course, he incorporated the gutter
pouring the beads
"Everything is blue."
- AK (MESE, MECD)
how fun. I love the gutter in the house. I would have never thought of that
ReplyDeleteSo awesome! :) We have been loving using measuring cups with our beads!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant idea to add tubing :-)
ReplyDeleteThese are incredibly fun! Hardware stores have such wonderful tools! ;) I'd like to invite you to share this post on Teach Me Tuesday, a linky party for all things educational! You can link up this post (and any others you'd like!) at http://WholeChildCreativeCurriculum.blogspot.com -- I hope to see you there!
ReplyDeleteCarla @ Whole Child Creative Curriculum
I just found a site that sells water beads for .89 cents for about 4 cups. Seems like a great deal. crystalwaterbeads.com just thought I would share my find. I don't know how much that cost at a local store.
ReplyDeleteI had to come and post! I just did this with my son today and he LOVED it!! He is 2.5. I also have a 10 month old little girl who also loved it! I got tubing as well, I got some larger diameter tubing, only 2 feet, that his cars fit in. It is curved at just the right angle and his cars come flying out and land into the tub of water beads. He loved it! He treated it like a sand box. He was asking about them at bedtime tonight! Oh, yeah, he played for almost 3 hours this morning and another 1 hour before dinner!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat age do you recommend starting to use water beads? Seems like it wouldn't be safe for too young because they are so small, but I would love to do this with my son when he is older :)
ReplyDeleteWe used them with 6 month old babies. You can let them sit in them and explore with their hands and feet. We just recommend supervision - especially for children who are very oral in their exploration.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea and am so excited to try in out in my classroom! I am wondering if the water beads are toxic to your knowledge? I called a florist to see if I could purchase the beads directly from them and they warned me that the type they use are made from silica and hence are highly toxic. Any suggestions where I can find water beads of the non-toxic variety? Thanks for all the great ideas!
ReplyDelete