What are Water Beads?
Water beads are tiny polymers that grow once they are placed in water. They are silky, squishy, and amazingly fun to play with. Water beads are most often used to hydrate plants or as colorful decorations.
Where Can I get Them?
Water beads can be found in the floral section of stores like Walmart and Michaels. They can also be purchased online here.
HOW TO MAKE SCENTED WATER BEADS
With Valentine's Day fast approaching I decided to give our water bead play a valentines theme. You could easily create a variety of themes by using different scents and varying colored gems.
Materials
- Water beads
- Water
- A Bowl or similar container
- Essential oil
- A large bin/container
Method
- Begin by placing the desired amount of water beads in a container of water along with a few drops of essential oil.
- We used rose essential oil but have used other oils in the past.
- As the water beads expand you may need to add more water to the container. The water beads should be fully submerged throughout the growing process.
- In 4-6 hours the water beads will be fully hydrated and ready for play!
Add scoopers, pourers, and other fun elements to the bin, and kids will have a blast playing and exploring.
Flashlights make a fun addition to water bead play as do glow sticks. Exploring on a light table is amazing, too! If you don't have a light table you can use magnifying glasses and flashlights to make mini light tables. Rosie and Jewel had lots of fun with those!
Extend the Fun
Water beads can be made using varying essential oils. Here are a few combinations that we have tried.
- Add a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil to green water beads to make sick-day gems.
- Add a few drops of lavender essential oil to purple water beads to make calming water gems.
- Add a few drops of citrus oil to yellow or orange water beads to make mind awakening, invigorating gems.
The list could go on. We love adding essential oil to our water bead play!
A Few Tips: We usually keep our water beads for about a week. They can be kept longer and can even be washed between play times. If washing just place in a strainer and wash and rinse with soap. If the water beads are left out of water for an extended period they will shrink.
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