Sunday, January 8, 2012

Water Beads

Hey, Happy New Year...a week ago!

Sometime in the last 6 months I came across a page somehow (Facebook? Pinterest? I just don't know!) that if you have not been to, you will absolutely love. It's called Play At Home Mom and it is so full of ideas you might even get overwhelmed! They are a group of moms who post so many fun activities and ideas and have these amazing rooms set up for their kids to play and learn in. I admit it. I wish I had a space like that and am totally jealous. However, just because I can't do it all, doesn't mean I can't do some which leads me to an idea I read about on their site. Water beads.
I had never heard of these. They are these tiniest little seed looking things that you soak in water for several hours and they get bigger. They are normally used for plants and flowers instead of a vase just full of water. The idea that Play At Home Mom suggested them for was a sensory bin. We have our rice bin already, but I thought this would be the perfect thing for my one and a half year old. (I didn't think to take a picture of how they looked at first, but here is how tiny the package was. I got them at Michael's by the flower stuff.)
I tell you, these things are amazing! They are kind of squishy when they expand and I instinctively tried to pop them. (It doesn't work, they just break). My daughter was asleep when the beads had soaked up enough water, so my two boys and I played in it. I really loved it. They did too. They played hide and seek with some crayons in it (then I suggested getting plastic animals instead since the beads made the crayon wrapper damp.)
 When my daughter woke up she gave the beads a whirl. She did attempt to put them in her mouth a few times, so watch for that with little ones. Once we got that behavior (temporarily) out of the way, she had a ball.
The tiny package made a big bin fun and it seemed like the perfect amount. This is something I think we will have a lot of fun with. I love discovering new things. Thanks Internet for existing!

6 comments:

Cassey @http://natural-nurturer@blogspot.com said...

i love play at home moms.. and the water beads are super cool. i have not been able to find them anywhere though, i had to order them online and not as cheap as everyone says! please come visit my blog and follow.. and ill do the same with you.. also, will you like my fb page? thanks

Natalie said...

Oooo - I want to play with those - they look super cool!

Crazy Life of a Writing Mom said...

That looks amazing! I want to check out that site :0)

McElprangs said...

What a fun idea! How long do they usually last? Also, how big of a tub does one package fill?

Lettie B. said...

actually, I didn't get to see how long they last. I kept the kid on the tub and I shouldn't have, as I learned. (I should probably note that in the post, huh?) The container is 16 quarts and I'd say it was about 1/3 full, maybe a bit more, but less than half. So, I kept mine in a closed container and because the water slowly seeps out of the beads (which is why people use them to water their plants) it made an environment conducive to mold. So, I had to toss them all out. I hopt that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions

Lettie B. said...

It is such a great site. I really think if I incorporated even like a 10th of what they do I'd feel like a super mom!