If I could sum up today in one word, that word would be MESSY, which is one of our favourite words around here!
I have wanted to try edible water bead play for some time after feeling thoroughly inspired after reading this post by Asia at Fun at Home with Kids.
Safe Edible Non-Chokable Mini Water Beads
I finally got around to ordering the ingredients at the weekend and I was more excited than a kid on Christmas Day when they arrived yesterday.
These miniature water beads are made from Basil seeds, sometimes referred to as Tukmaria seeds or Sabja seeds.
I used these Basil seeds, ordered from Amazon uk.
You can buy these online in numerous places (just google) or you could pick them up for less at health food stores.
Recipe
One and a half cups of water - 375ml
2 tablespoons of Basil seeds - 30ml
Natural food colouring
Simply throw all of the ingredients together and leave to soak for five-ten minutes. You may need to stir it a couple of times. I repeated the recipe six times to make a lovely rainbow.
Play Time
Auntie Lulu came to play today and we set the play up outside, knowing it was going to get very messy! As Buddy isn't walking consistently yet I decided to dress him in a sleep suit so that he didn't hurt his knees.
Buddy touched the beads tentatively a few times before getting stuck in!
Buddy enjoyed swirling his hands through the beads, making beautiful patterns and feeling the beads.
After a while we gave Buddy his bucket and spade to play with. He had fun scooping with his spade and tried to fill his bucket up with beads.
These beads feel fantastic. Somewhere between tomato seeds and frogspawn. They move as a fluid gel and cling together, yet you can feel an underlying cellular texture. They are so squishable and touchable, Auntie Lulu and I had to have a little prod too!
Auntie Lulu then scooped some beads up in her hands. After a while Buddy decided to scoop them from Lulu's hands into the bucket.
He then had fun playing with the beads in the bucket, until he lost his balance and we had a little spillage.
Fortunately, Buddy felt it was just as fun to play with the beads on the floor!
This play was so much fun! I've actually saved the beads to have another go tomorrow.
Messiness Factor
This is a VERY messy play. These beads do cling to clothes and hands. I even found one between my toes an hour later.
I always use natural food colouring in our messy plays and have never had a problem getting the colours out of clothing, but please be aware that there is a risk of staining with this play dependant of course on the washing detergent you use and the food colouring you choose to use.
Fun Factor
This was just brilliant. Buddy loved it, Auntie Lulu loved it and I loved it. We had a good forty minutes of play with this before moving on too our next water bead activity (post coming soon!)
Build on it
I read an amazing blog post this week by Multicraftingmummy where she created a giant ice discovery block for her children to explore (with secret treasures hidden inside, how fun!) You can find the play at the link below.
Giant Ice Discovery Block - Multicraftingmummy
When we were playing with the beads earlier, I couldn't help thinking how amazing it would be to freeze a block of them with hidden treasures inside!
So give it a go folks, have fun, make some mess and come back and tell me all about it!
Posted with Blogsy
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