Water Pearls

What You Need:

• Water beads, blues and greens (pre-soaked overnight and strained as per the directions)
• Foam in a variety of colors
• Scissors
• Plastic wrap
• Shoe box
• Tape

What You Do:

1. Cover the inside of the shoe box with plastic wrap. Tape it in place if necessary.
2. Help your child pour the pre-soaked water beads into the the box until it's filled about a third of the way up. Oh....and make sure to tell your child the balls are not edible!
3. Encourage your child to describe what kinds of creatures they think live in the sea. Do they want to invent any that they've never seen or heard of before?
4. Ask your child to cut out all of the creatures they can think of using scissors and foam.
5. Have your child place their sea objects in the water beads to create an underwater environment.
6. Encourage your child to play with the sea creatures, changing the scenery of their environment along the way. Can any of them live on land too? Do any of the creatures also fly?

After a day or two, the beads will start to shrink. If your child is still exploring, simply spray them with water to keep them from shriveling.