Sensory Play with Water Beads

This is something I have never even thought of until I came across it at one of  the local dollar stores. Playing with the water retaining beads you put into a vase! I wasn't so sure they would be great to play with at first. But the package said non toxic, and my children don't often put things that aren't food into their mouths anymore so I picked up a package.
I had to try it out myself first, so I put the beads into a cup and filled it up with water, skeptical about whether they would grow at all because they were so tiny and hard. After only a few minutes, I noticed a difference in size and in their shape too! They seemed to be getting bumpy, getting little grooves in them. But since the instructions said they could take up to 6 hours to fully expand I decided to wait before writing them off. It was worth the wait!

All evening, mommy and daddy kept on going back to the beads to check them out, often touching them and playing with them too. After a couple of hours (we couldn't wait) we took the beads out and drained the extra water. They were bouncy, smooth, soft and squishy! the kids picked then up with spoons and little plastic tweezers and fingers. they bounced, tossed and felt them with their feet.
After having so much fun playing with them all in a bunch, I had DD sort them out into the separate colours. She had fun, and with "help" from mommy, Petit Monsier and Big Bro, we had them all organized for another play adventure on a different day.