Here is a super simple water beads sensory play activity for kids!
I recently bought some water beads from the dollar store and since they don’t need to be soaked we decided to pour them into a bowl and find a simle way to play with them using our DIY Light Table. What simpler than throwing in some glow sticks? 
Simple Water Beads Sensory Play with Glow Sticks
Our clear water beads in this activity were from the the dollar store. These particular ones come already expanded and ready to go, you do not need to add water and soak like you do with water beads purchased online. The downside is they don’t last as long and only come in clear. Regardless they are a simple way to do some water beads sensory play without waiting for beads to soak.
Materials used for this activity:
- Clear water beads
- Glowstick bracelets (also from the dollar store)
- small storage bin or dish
Pour the clear water beads into the storage bin with enough water to cover all the beads. I set mine out on a table and let my daughter and daycare kids explore it after nap. At first they weren’t sure why a bin of water was sitting on the table but as they began to explore it they found that the water beads would disappear into the water until they scooped them out or swirled the water around.
After a bit we added the glow sticks to this easy water bead sensory play activity.
The kids had so much fun moving the glow sticks around and changing the color of the water beads. The kids experimented with how the shapes of the water beads around the glow sticks changed by adding or removing water from the bucket. They really just liked playing with the beads and exploring how they felt. The glow sticks added a fun color element to it and the kids played with this until the glow sticks began to fade.
Our next step was to pull out our DIY Light Table and put our bin of water beads on top.
The kids played for longer than I ever expected with these. My preschoolers where great about keeping the beads in the bucket but my younger toddlers needed to be reminded not to try and taste them. If you have younger kids that want to taste things make sure you keep a close eye. Water beads are non-toxic and are a squishy soft texture but I wouldn’t recommend letting little ones eat them.
Later in the afternoon the daycare kids begged to get them back out but we decided to switch it up a bit, we did some hand-eye coordination practice by scooping and transferring the water beads without the light play items. I wanted to keep it simple so I gave each child a small bin with a container and a tool for scooping I also let the kids mix in some watercolors to make the beads pop more visually.
Do you have any water bead activities to share?
If you want more learning activities using water bead activities check out our fine motor water bead activity or our letter recognition activity!
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