Water Bead Sensory Bin

9 / 17 / 123 / 24 / 14

Okay, so I know that we are very likely the last ever play-lovin’ people to jump aboard the water bead train, but we’ve finally done it. And they’re awesome.

The truth is, while I’ve known that they could be purchased online, I was hoping to just ‘bump’ into them one day while doing some shopping. I know this is ridiculous, but I’ve had my eyes peeled for months while at children’s stores and teaching stores, but of course I’ve had no luck finding them in those places… Am I the only person on the face of the planet that did not know what water beads were actually intended for?! Here I was, thinking that they were some sort of revolutionary sensory-based material designed especially for play, when they are actually intended for using in flower vases and readily available at florists and in the floral sections of craft and dollar stores. Duh! My bad…

That is until we were picking up a couple of lily-esque flowers for a pond sensory bin in our local dollar store the other day… Sure enough, there they were. Squishy, shiny, smooth marbles packed in small containers of water. Non-toxic and environmentally safe. Score! I may have been a little overly excited given the situation… But hey, what can I say?

We first used them during our recent messy play date and today we took them outside again in a simple water bead sensory bin. Miss G requested the water beads be in pink water, so pink water it was. We gathered up a few kitchen goodies (a slotted spoon is a must) and headed outside.

The coolest thing is that because these particular beads are clear, they’re nearly invisible when in water (especially in non-coloured water).

Then you put your hands in the bin expecting just water and discover a squishy, slippery surprise. (Of course, Gracen already knew what to expect, but apparently it still felt wonderful enough to get elbow deep in the bin.)

Catching them while in water can be a little tricky, but it’s a big part of the fun.

That’s where a slotted spoon comes in handy (especially one of this size). Grae quickly realized how much easier it made collecting her bouncy water beads and got to work filling up her tray.

Of course, what fun is a sensory bin without squishing your toes in it?

A few things to keep in mind about water beads… Firstly, though they’re non-toxic, biodegradable, and environmentally safe, they {obviously} should not be ingested. Also, from what I’ve read, they clog drains quite badly, so if you set up a water bead station in your bath tub or sink, be sure to use one of those mesh drain inserts to make sure none of them slip down into your pipes. Lastly, they will dehydrate over time if left out of water. Either store them in a sealed container with a little bit of water, or if they do dry out, simply soak them in water for 8 to 12 hours to rehydrate them.

I have a feeling there’s a lot of water bead fun in our future… Brad and I picked up several packages of the dehydrated kind while on a little date night to the Summer Night Market last week, so we’ve got a stock pile of red, purple, pink, aqua, and multicoloured ones ready to go. I’ve already got a million ways to use them floating around in my head… How fun would setting up a bubble tea station be? Or putting them into a big container of thick shaving foam? What about mixing them up with glow sticks and playing with them in the dark or creating a Halloween sensory bin filled with water beads, slime, and creepy crawlies? I feel a Pinterest visit coming on very soon… ☺

♥

Baby Bath Station

6 / 18 / 123 / 24 / 14

I was beyond thrilled when I stumbled upon Happy Hooligans a couple of weeks ago. Jackie, the woman behind the blog runs an in-home daycare and is all about old-fashioned play, open-ended exploration, and letting kiddos get down and dirty. My kind of gal! Upon scrolling through her posts, I immediately knew that this activity would be a huge hit with Miss G. The only problem was that I wanted to surprise Grae with it on a sunny day.

Well, today that day finally arrived! I laid a blanket out in our backyard, filled a bin with some warm, soapy water, added a couple of drops of blue food colouring, and we had a bath. Next, I collected a couple of wash cloths, hand towels, a tooth brush, a hair brush, a bath poof (that’s my technical term), a water-filled mister, and a couple nearly empty soap bottles topped up with water. Gracen’s contribution was her naked and nearly 50 year old baby doll that used to be mine and was Grandma Sue’s before that. Voila – a baby bath station!

On a side note, have I ever mentioned the fact that there are 7 people living in the basement suite of our house? Because there is. Well 7 permanent residents, plus a few of extended family members that are around A LOT. In a suite that is probably fit for 2 or 3 college students who don’t care to cook. And while they’re quite nice, having that many people living below us can be quite challenging at times… The constant come and go, picking up after 5 children other than our own (in a yard that is supposed to be entirely ours), and the noise… Oh, the noise!

Why am I mentioning all this in a post about a baby bath station, you wonder? Well, because the middle child of the 5, a sweet little girl who is 6 years old, has taken quite a liking to Gracen and the activities I set up for her. For the past month or two, it seems like the moment we head out into the yard, she comes running up the stairs to join us. And while I really don’t mind including her and watching her for an hour here or there, it sometimes makes new activities fall a little flat. Because she’s several years older, she dives into new activities without a thought. But Grae, on the other hand, needs a little time to cautiously explore and figure things out before really getting into some things. The result is that Gracen sits backs and watches, doesn’t get involved, and then moves on to something else entirely.

Needless to say, today’s sensory bin got off to a bit of slow start. Gracen was really excited to get started, and had some fun, but once it became difficult to get her hands on any of the goodies, she sat back, watched, and soon decided she’d rather do something else while her little friend enjoyed her new baby bath.

I felt bad, but after a little while, I politely dismissed us from the backyard and shifted our things over to the solarium. The perk with having to move? The solarium was so nice and warm that the little lady was able to don her tankini. With a little more space to move and explore, Gracen really got into it.

There was washing, scrubbing, hair brushing, and grooming… And before long, our little fishy went for a bath of her own. It was inevitable, really.

Soon it became a bath a tooth brushing station for two.

Probably the favourite part of the whole station though, was this little one dollar purple spray bottle.

Somehow, over an hour in, our little bath station shifted gears a little…

With baby’s hair groomed just so, Gracen wanted her hair done too. She asked for a ponytail, quickly changed her mind to two ponies, and by the time she was done with the pack of elastics, she wanted eight. This was the result. She thought it was pretty hilarious and asked me to take photo after photo, just so she could see herself on the camera’s display.

Overall, this new sensory experience was a huge hit. When all was said and done, Gracen was clean, smiley, and sufficiently pruned.

♥

You can see Gracen’s beach, ocean, gardening, moon dough, construction, and bird -themed

bins by clicking on the links.

Water Sensory Bin

5 / 10 / 123 / 24 / 14

I love the fact that we have a little solarium out back. Unfortunately though, for us, it’s not just a place to grow pretty plants and relax… It’s our laundry room, shoe closet, tricycle riding corral, and recycling depot, all in one. And today it became a play room on top of all of that.

I’ve been squirrelling away little things for some sensory bins I’ve wanted to put together for Miss G for a while now, and today Gracen and I finally found bins that are the perfect shape and size. As soon as we got home, we gathered our materials for a super simple water sensory bin, changed Miss G into a bathing suit, and headed out into the solarium for some fun.

We laid a blanket down first to minimize potential flooding and slipping, filled the bin halfway full of water, added a couple of drops of blue food colouring just for fun, and plunked in Grae’s collection of shells, rocks, and driftwood.