They come in two forms: hydrated and dehydrated. The dehydrated ones (shown above) are less expensive. I picked up a pack for a couple bucks. The package says that it makes ONE GALLON of water beads. To hydrate the beads, I used 2 liters of water and half the pack of beads. You need to let them sit for 4-6 hours. This is neat to let the kids watch how they grow over time. Once they are hydrated, the sky is the limit for play. We currently use them on our light table.
My son loves the texture of these beads and he loves letting them squash through his hands. At first, he wasn’t too sure about them.
I have even overheard him saying “Evil Dr. Porkchop” at times. {We are going through a Toy Story phase in our house}. I always wonder what kinds of scenarios he is making up in his head.
A warning, however….supervise at all times! Do not let your child put these in their mouth. They are non-toxic but obviously a choking hazard. My son is past the “I put everything in my mouth” stage but I still supervise him while he is playing with these.
Linking to these parties
Just Jaime says
Um COOL! I don’t have kids yet, but I’d love to play with them myself. Your light table is awesome!
Molly says
I had no idea you could find these in the craft store! Guess who’s making a trip first thing tomorrow, my son would love these!
I’d love for you to come link your craftiness up at my *Get Creative* party
http://www.justalittlecreativity.com/2012/02/get-creative-party-3-and-fun-features.html
Hope to see you there!
-Molly
Erika _Thatsitmommy says
Very Cool! What a great idea =)
Ms. Liz says
Looks like he had a blast and love your DIY light table! Looks great! We linked back to you in today’s post on ways to use water beads (we froze ours and then melted them to see what happened!). We are also having an awesome water bead giveaway, check it out:
http://fitkidsclub.blogspot.com/2012/03/clubhouse-science-art-of-melting.html
Stacy@ Beautiful Blue Topaz Beads says
At first I wanna say that your kid is too beautiful more than anything in your post. The above beads are so cool and I think it can make happy any kid as yours.