What are these?

What are these little balls?

We passed them around circle to explore up close. 

We placed them in shallow trays with water so that we could observe them up close. 

They began to change. 

The children noticed that the balls started to slowly grow in the water. They used rich vocabulary to describe their observations - fragile, bumpy, squishy, slippery - and played very carefully as the balls continued to change. 

We used scientific tools to help us gather more information. 

The clear ones were so hard to see and we noticed that as the balls grew they became bumpy!

Can you guess what they are?

Water Bead Exploration

I have a fondness for water beads. They are interesting to play with and are fairly inexpensive to purchase. We bought three packs of blue ones last week and I thought it might be fun to explore them again. (They are not suitable for very young children as they could be a choking hazard).

Usually we put the water beads in water overnight so that when we wake up they are ready to play with. This time I thought it would be fun to play with them as they expanded. We placed the beads in our portable water table with more water than required. I added in some tools to play with (e.g., funnels, tubes, cups, spoons) and invited Caleb to play with the beads while we waited for them to expand. 

They started to absorb water almost instantly and it was interesting to see Caleb observe that the beads fit into all funnels at the beginning of his play, but as they expanded they were no longer able to.

The beads added another dimension to the water table and sustained his interest for almost two hours of uninterrupted play!

As the beads got larger his play changed in response.

Once the beads became fully formed we drained the extra water (if they absorb too much they become very fragile and will split easily) and Caleb continued to explore them with the tools. What fun!

Spooky Stew!

We added some spooky ingredients to our water bead sensory table today! The children enjoyed creating creepy recipes that involved spiders, bats, ants, eyeballs, and skulls!  Yuck!

What slimy fun!

Exploring Water Beads

So...fascinated with what we've been seeing on some of our favourite blogs, we decided to give water beads a try today in our tactile table.

Water beads are small, plastic pellets that expand with water and are used in floral arrangements.

Water beads need to soak for about 4 hours in water - as they soak up the water they expand and become much larger. We showed the children the water beads and asked them to predict what would happen when the beads were placed in the water. We had some interesting predictions. 

"They will change colour."

"They will change shape."

"They will turn into something else."

"They will melt."

The children enjoyed playing with the beads as they soaked in the tub.

Once expanded the beads were placed in our sensory table for the children to enjoy. They are so soft, slippery, and squishy and it was interesting to listen to the children describe them to each other  and play with just the beads and no other tools.