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Playing with water beads? Try this easy STEAM experiment first! Learn how to easily make dancing water beads in this easy STEAM activity for kids!
Easy STEAM Activities
Science was one of my favourite subjects when I was at school. And now with my three kids I love that I get to explore science with them at home in these easy experiments. Giving them a glimpse at all the wonders science holds, laying the foundation for curiosity in learning! Check out this post for more easy STEAM Science activities.
Watching the water beads jump and dance in this activity is mesmerizing. My kids wanted to repeat the reaction over and over again! Your kids will probably want to watch it over and over again too so have a few Alka-Seltzer tablets handy!
And check out my short form crafting series Curious Crafting on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Watch all the episodes here. Look for season 2 coming in the new year!
How to Make Dancing Water Beads
Take your water beads and start to grow them in water. I placed my water beads inside one of the mason jars I was going to use for this activity and added enough water to cover them. You don’t want your water beads growing to full size just yet. Once the activity is done, you can continue growing them for sensory play.
Once the water beads are about half their full size it’s time to try this experiment.
Fill a mason jar with water.
Add the water beads to the jar.
Add an Alka-Seltzer tablet and watch the water beads jump and dance in the jar as the tab dissolves. This should happen right away. TIP: break the tablet into pieces and add it slowly to extend the reaction!
Once the tablet dissolves you can add another one to watch it again.
After adding more than than two tablet the water gets cloudy. If your little one wants to watch it again, use a strainer to drain the water and save the water beads. Add fresh water and another tablet and watch it again!
Age Suitability for Dancing Water Beads
This activity is good for kids 3 years and up. My kids are 4, 4, and 8 year old. Water beads are a choking hazard. Alka-Seltzer is medicine, be sure to have your kids wash their hands after doing this experiment. Adult supervision is required.
Mess Level
This is a mess level is low.
Difficulty to Create
Easy.
Skills Developed in Dancing Water Beads
Sensory play, language development, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, imaginative play, creativity, curiosity.
Supplies for Dancing Water Beads
(This post and list contains affiliate links for your convenience. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I may earn a commission. Please visit my disclosure policy for more information.)
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
This show is all about fun and easy crafts for toddlers and preschoolers.
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.
Our Sensory Play Kits are some fun and easy ways to keep your child engaged while at the same time using sensory play to nurture their mind!
