Have you heard of Magic Water Beads? If not, (1) neither had I until a few weeks ago so don’t feel bad, but (2) you your kiddos are missing out. These things are awesome! Just ask my kids!
I bought the Magic Water Beads on Amazon for $11.95.
I’m always looking for ways to change it up a bit activity-wise with the kids, especially if those ideas are cheap. As I mentioned in my grocery delivery-service reviews – I’m all about saving money! These popped up a few times in my Pinterest and Blog searches, and I decided to give them a try — not having high hopes. They far exceeded my expectations!
Here are 5 Reasons I’m a Huge Fan of Magic Water Beads:
1. Magic Water Beads Can Provide Hours of Fun.
The way the water beads work is that you pour the tiny beads into water and leave for a few hours to find the teeny-tiny beads become the size of marbles. This shows the difference in the before and after sizes.
For a reference, I used about a third of the bottle to fill up the big plastic container in my photos.
We left them in the water overnight and actually kept adding more water. We were initially afraid they’d get too big and overflow, so we wanted to be careful.
We filled ours up before bedtime and when the kids woke up the next morning, they were super excited to see how big they had grown.
The bottle instructs you that you only need 2 – 4 hours, but with impatient toddlers we decided to just let them soak overnight to avoid constant hovering by the not-yet-ready beads all day.
My kids played with these beads for hours! Most mornings they follow me around like puppies until breakfast is ready and this morning I had to force them to stop playing and come eat.
There are a few accessories (like this scooper) that are often bought alongside the magic balls but we just pulled out measuring cups, large spoons, and other random toys or kitchen items. The kids LOVED it.
2. Sensory Play
The beads are solid but have a unique slippery (but not grimy) texture. My kids kept digging their hands into the container and laughing as their fingers slid between the magic water beads. My husband and I might have too … 😉
3. Playing with Magic Water Beads Encourages Counting and Measuring
My kids loved filling up the different cups, counting out how many beads could fit into various containers, and pouring them from one to the other. My son is really into teaching my daughter how to count right now and this morning he pretty much incorporated a 2-hour lesson into play time.
And I just sat back, drank my coffee, and watched. Success!
4. They Don’t Leave a Huge Mess
Unfortunately, true crafts involving glue or paint really stress me out. I’m somewhat of a neat freak and the fun involved with messy crafts often outweighs their benefit in our house. When I see my friends’ posts involving messy crafts with their kids, I kinda have a panic attack. #sorrynotsorry #amithemomrobbingmychildrenofchildhood?
Although the water beads bounced out of their container …
They don’t make a gross mess, just a “we have to pick this up” mess. Does that make sense? We easily swept them up into a dustpan when we were finished playing. Out of the hundreds (actually more likely over a thousand) balls we played with only 2 got smushed. When they get smushed they look like this:
The smushed ones were easy to wipe off, though. To be safe, just play with them outside.
5. Magic Water Beads Last a REALLY Long Time and Aren’t Bad for the Environment
After my kids played with the water beads all morning, they left for an overnight visit to grandma’s house. They wanted to bring the beads, so I packed them up and sent them (and my measuring cups) with them. You guys – they are still in good condition in the container at my mom’s house. It’s crazy! As long as you keep them in water (and covered) you can keep playing with them. They are biodegradable so over time they will deteriorate. But it’s been a few weeks and they still serve as a good activity for the kids.
You can apparently even put them in your potted plants and they will slowly release water and disintegrate over time.
Have your kids tried out magic water beads? What did you think?
