When it comes to sensory play, water beads are probably one of my kid’s favorites. It is amazing to watch just how creative they can get with them, and this sensory material is absolutely versatile. My kids have frozen water beads, added them to shaving cream, made them into slime, and so much more.
Recently, we dyed our own water beads and my little guy (1-year-old) was super curious about what the older kids were doing. He was so mad that he couldn’t play. These Water Bead Sensory Bottles were created so that he could play and explore some of the magic of water beads 🙂
And the best part? These are ridiculously easy to make. To make one for each color of the rainbow took me less than 5 minutes!
Items Needed to Make Water Bead Sensory Bottles
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)For ours, we used clear water beads which we dyed. You can learn how to dye water beads here.
How to Make a Water Bead Sensory Bottle
Making these is as simple as 1, 2, 3. The only thing to keep in mind when creating your sensory bottles is that it is easier to add more than it is to remove excess. When we made ours I added in too many water beads into a couple of the bottles. When we attempted to remove the bottle caps to empty the bottles out a bit they literally sprayed out everywhere…so start with a little and add more.
The easiest way to fill your sensory bottles is to add water and any food dye you plan on using first and then adding in the water beads. Screw the lid on and viola – done! All my kids found it fascinating to watch the water beads expand and take shape. It was a whole different experience than when we learned about the science behind water beads.
As the beads got bigger air bubbles would dance their way up the sides of the bottles.
Once all the water has mostly absorbed the bottles had this really neat polka dot type texture.
My kids had so much fun manipulating and stacking these. For the longest time, they played with them as blocks outside. As it started to get darker out, we brought them inside and one of the kids observed how vibrant the sensory bottles looked as the light shined through them.
Pretty right?
Other Ways to Play with Water Beads
Water Bead Slime
Water Beads and Shaving Cream on the Light Table
Hammering Water Beads
Painting with Water Beads
Shaving Cream and Water Beads Sensory Bin
Frozen Water Beads
Stress Away Water Beads