Okay, have you tried water beads?! These tiny balls of fun will entertain your kids for hours… maybe even days! I wanted to share a few ideas on how you can use these to help your children learn while playing. Win, win! Plus, I have included a “Catch & Count” free printable that is exclusive to literacywiththelittles.com.

What are they?

First of all, let me tell you what they are. The set I bought is called “Marvel Beads.” It came as an 8 oz baggie of tiny colorful balls. The instructions say to add 3 cups of water to every teaspoon of these tiny beads. Well, when our package came I poured a little over half of the package into a bucket, then added a lot of water. Then after about an hour we realized we needed a second bucket and more water. We underestimated how much they would grow. Each bead ends up growing to be a little smaller than a marble. They are cool, colorful, squishy, a little bouncy, and just soothing to play with. They are the perfect addition to a sensory bin.

When you are done with them you can let them dry up, and shrink back to their original size. Then you can store them in a baggy until you are ready to reuse them.

I have included this Amazon affiliate link for your convenience. If you purchase using this link, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. I will only include links to products I love and recommend.

https://amzn.to/2P84zHp

Now that you know what water beads are, let’s get to the educational activities.

Color Sorting

This one is perfect for kids that are working on learning their colors and sorting. This activity allows little ones to play in a sensory bin while sorting and identifying colors.

I used my rainbow bowls to give them an easy visual of where to place each color. As they picked up and placed the beads we said the color words. This activity is wonderful for fine motor skills. The little water beads are slightly slippery and a little squishy. It takes concentration for little ones to pick them up one at a time instead of scooping up a heaping handful.

This activity was simple enough to do with my toddler twins, but my 5 year old also enjoyed joining in. (The package for the MarvelBeads says for 3 and up, but I watched them closely so that they didn’t try to put any of them in their mouths)

Are you looking for more color activities? Here are a couple you may enjoy. Click the photos for details.

Catch & Count {Scissor Skills Practice and Free Printable}

Scissor skills are super important, but they aren’t always practiced much at home. Maybe it has something to do with a parent’s fear of giving their child sharp objects. I know I am a little overprotective, so that is understandable. Well this activity gives their little hands a chance to practice that cutting motion without the fear of them giving themselves a haircut. As an added bonus, it also gives them a chance to work on their counting skills. This activity can be done as a center in the classroom or it is also a fun activity to do with your own little ones at home.

I found these “Handy Scoopers” on Amazon. They use the same motion and grip as scissors, but they are used to scoop up small items. Here is an Amazon affiliate link to the set that I bought.

https://amzn.to/2OyUrGE

If you purchase this item using my link, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Setting Up

First, print your free recording sheets. You can snag them by clicking the link below.

I chose to put my recording sheets in plastic page protectors from the Target dollar spot, so that we could use dry erase markers on them. Laminating them will also make them easy to wipe off.

Next, choose what items you want to put in the sensory bin to scoop up. Remember, the smaller the items, the more that will fit in the scoop. Which ends up being more for your little ones to count. So this activity can easily be differentiated for different levels, and for different themes.

Here are some ideas for scoop-able items:

Water Beads

Beans

Pom Poms

Mini Erasers

Tiny Plastic Bugs (or spider rings around Halloween)

Bells (at Christmas time)

Counting Chips

Coins

Most small manipulatives (You can tie this activity into so many themed days)

The Activity

Now that you have chosen the items the kids will “catch” you are ready. I love to model the activity first so that the kids know my expectations for the activity. I show them how to correctly hold the scoop, then reach in and take a scoop. Then I dump them on my table by my paper and begin to count. Make sure to model one to one correspondence by touching or slightly moving each object as you count them.

After counting I use my dry erase marker to write the number of items I scooped up, then I also draw that many items. Now it is time to erase and repeat. This works great as a center for small groups.

A few tips:

*If you are using the water beads have them dump them into a separate container (they are bouncy and like to roll all over)

*If you are using tiny items they may want to count by creating groups of ten*

Sensory Bins

Water beads are perfect as a filler for any sensory bin. There is something so calming about them. You can add in water creatures and have the little ones pretend the beads are bubbles. You can have students use the scoops to simply transfer the water beads from one container to another. There are so many possibilities.