We have been having some fun with water beads! Eli will spend ages scooping up the beads and pouring them from one container into another. Whenever we have visitors with young children I'll usually pop some water beads in a tub the day before they come. It's a great activity that every child loves (because it involves water!) and is a fabulous tactile experience for them. For younger children, it also provides a good 'parallel play' experience where sharing is not really required (just make sure you have at least one scoop for each child!) but everyone still has fun. Packets of water beads are pretty economical at about $2.50 each. I usually purchase mine online from ebay, though they are probably easily available from florists.
We play with the water beads for 3 or 4 days and then we find that they are starting to get to the end of their life. Leave them too long and they will start to get a bit smelly (probably because they are biodegradable)!Water beads usually come in clear or opaque. We prefer the clear and have tried a variety of colours (even rainbow!).
So, if you have youngsters and haven't tried water beads yet, have a play!
While the older children were at school Eli and I recently enjoyed making a stained glass window picture. We read the story of The Three Little Pigs and then started our artwork. We took a piece of clear contact, peeled off the back and stuck on house and a pig cut out of black cardboard. Then we covered the rest of the contact in pieces of coloured cellophane.The contact is quite sticky and there were a few moments where Eli had seven fingers stuck down or the entire piece of contact was suddenly waving around in the air, but it was lots of fun! It looks great stuck up on a window where the light can shine through it.
The trickiest part of this project was cutting out the pig (yes - it is a pig!). You will note that I didn't cut out three pigs for good reason!
Never heard of water beads ... is that what's in the packet you have me a little while ago? Haven't opened it yet! Yes, have to agree that the pig project is very sticky! It looks good on the window, but isn't exacly ... ummm ... flat!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's them! Might be a good idea to wait until next summer now. Our little pig has been in the full sun for a few weeks now and is starting to curl up a little!!
ReplyDeleteToo late, I promised the girls they could play with them tomorrow!! Our pig was curly before he got put onto the window!! Little fingers rushed the project and everything stuck to everything!!
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