Fun with Water Beads! (BLT)

           I’ve been looking for some fun sensory activities to do with Myka now that she’s older. However, she’s still pretty weird about foreign textures, but she IS getting better about exploring new substances. I’d say she’s made a vast improvement between the epic fail flour+water sensory activity and the water beads we played with the other day!

            Admittedly, it still took her like 5-10 minutes to actually touch them more after she initially stuck her hand in and pulled it back out right away. Lol That’s ok. I didn’t want to make her touch it after making that mistake last time. Needless to say, there were no tears this time. Haha!

            You know what they say: Kids learn by example. John and I messed with the water beads while she watched and decided to finally play with them. We had 2 containers and she enjoyed dumping them all over the floor the most. Lol I was also, and am continually, amazed at how good her fine motor control is for her age. (It has been for quite awhile, actually.) Myka had very little problems picking those water beads up. Those things slicker than snail snot too! Even John and I were having a hard time grabbing them! Lol

           

This is a great activity to help children develop:

-fine motor control

-hand-eye coordination

-problem solving (place beads under container)

-plus they’re just fun to play with!

Notes:

-Try to find un-dyed beads OR rinse dye off of beads before play. If not you will end up with a dyed mess!

-Supervise children at all times! If your child is still putting things in his/her mouth all the time, you might skip this activity for now.

-Let beads soak overnight in a bowl of water. It does take some time for them to soak it up. (With that being said, make sure you get a large enough container to allow expanding!)

-Make sure fingernails are trimmed! It’s very easy to accidentally puncture them with fingernails. Squeezing, however, takes a lot more force before they break!