Water Beads

I found some awesome "aqua beads" that are usually used for floral arrangements, and thought they'd be a fun sensory type item to play with in our water table. I got the idea after seeing a post about using them with black light. We aren't there yet with our "experiments," so some good old fashion squishing and pouring is fine for us. The beads grow in size with water and are non-toxic.

Before soaking the beads in water, Jasper is showing how small they are.
"Very, very small!"
Waiting patiently

They're starting to grow!
The next day, after they had been been fully hydrated, we put them in the water table with scoops and measuring devices.

Splashing about, perfect for a hot day.
Measuring and dumping
Counting
*These are not for really little guys, as they are very tempting to put in the mouth. They do look like candy, and are the perfect size for choking. They are totally reusable, store them in a closed container so they stay hydrated, or let them dry out and then soak again to play.