We love using water beads to learn and to play.
It’s laughable how fascinated I am with science for preschoolers when I never liked science as a subject in school. But, I love it now!
This activity is what we’re all about at Happilyevermom: visual, hands-on, and FUN!
You might remember our first experience with water beads. That experience reminded me of how important it is to let children explore the world around them…without all the fuss!
This is an extension of that activity to keep learning and playing with water beads.
What You Need for this Activity
- Water Beads
- Food Coloring
- Bowls
- Spoons
Pretty simple, eh? But, you won’t believe how engaging this is for preschoolers!
You can see that I let my three-year-old squeeze the food coloring. It was a judgement call. It’s wonderful fine motor work, but….you could end up with an entire container drained pretty quickly! Those drops come out so fast!
Use your best judgement...or, flip a coin. Whatever works in your house!
She mixed and tried to make her favorite color: purple. It was a deep, deep purple, but she did it! And, man, was she proud!!
Science for Preschoolers: Some Questions/Thoughts
- Ask your preschooler how they can make their favorite color
- Point to a color nearby and ask: do you think we could mix that color??
- Notice how the beads absorb different amounts of color…why?
- How many different colors can you make?
- What happens when you leave the beads out overnight?
Note: You can re hydrate the beads by spraying them with water
We could have done this for hours. The water beads make it such a visual experience!
If you like science for preschoolers, you might enjoy our ice, salt, and food coloring experiment.
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Would you believe I haven’t worked with water beads yet? I need to get some! This looks like so much fun and I love color mixing activities! Pinned to my Children’s Activities board!
Ooh, Meredith, you should get some! We just started using them ourselves!! Thanks for dropping by and pinning 🙂