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water bead free play: relaxing, soothing, & so totally worth it

home / family life / family fun / indoor activities / water bead free play: relaxing, soothing, & so totally worth it
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water bead free play During the school year, my kids are tired.

Their days are long, the nights are short, and quite frankly, they’re just tired.

Add an afternoon activity one or two days a week–which I know they need as much as they need the academic part of their days–and, well, they’re even more tired.

So we try to keep weekends free, and we do our best to keep at least two weeknights activity-free as well.

But what I’ve been doing lately is pulling out some of our old favorites for a few hours on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon–crafts and toys and resources that Maddy, Owen, and Cora can just breeze through at their leisure.

They love it.

And so do I.

Here’s the skinny. . .

  • Water Bead Free Play– Relaxing, Soothing, & So Totally Worth It:ย  Who says that elementary schoolers shouldn’t play with play-dough?

Why can’t they finger paint or play with pipe cleaners or water beads?

water bead free play

Maddy sorts her water beads. . .

water bead free play

. . . and Owen does the same.

Stomp in mud? Yes. String beads? Absolutely.ย  Play freely with water beads? You bet.

I think they can–and should add time in the day for such things. . . but I also know very well that there’s a whole lot of other really important stuff they need to cover in school, so I’m doing more to throw these important elements into our weekends.

Not a lot–totally no stress–but just sneaking it in when we can, even if it’s only for a few minutes here and there.

water bead free play

Maddy sorts —

water bead free play

–and Cora sorts–and they admire how colors change as they remove and add certain beads.

This weekend I brought out the ole water beads–sans our homemade light table–and though we left them in the cabinet over the summer and they stunk like the nastiest of nasty, Maddy and I scoured, scented, washed, and rinsed our beads until they were as good as new.ย 

And after the beads were fresh and clean, while Owen was at soccer, the girls and I put the beads in three separate baking dishes so we could appreciate their clear, colorful beauty.ย  I pulled down our small recyclables bin, and Maddy and Cora took out a few cups, bowls, cans, and jars to use with their beads.

They wanted to use spoons and try to use chopsticks, which was cool with me.

And then they played.ย  And Iย was reminded of how completely relaxing and totally soothing water beads are.

water bead free play

Another good reason to keep those recyclables—

water bead free play

–you never know when they’ll come in handy!

We just sat, and we chatted. And we squeezed and pinched and squirmed and enjoyed the cool of the beads on our hands.ย  Maddy and Cora sorted–on their own–and they mixed and traded and pretended they were fairies preparing their fairy food and I was the fairy head cook.

Then Owen came home from soccer and he took my spot and they added him to the mix.

We all just sat and chatted, and the kids squeezed and pinched and squirmed and enjoyed the cool of the beads on their hands.ย  They did more sorting and more mixing and more trading and more pretending and just. . . played.

And I listened and just enjoyed where we were, vowing that every so often–more often than not now–to pull out these old faves so that my kids can relax, chat, slow down, and just enjoy where they are.

I love these things.ย  They’re really fun for kids, and you may be surprised at how much you’ll love them yourself:

fyi: Affiliate links are included in this post. If you’re cool with it, use the links and then not only will you end up with some awesome water beads of your very own, but your friend over here at teachmama.com will score a teeny cut of your purchase. (And I mean teeny-tiny-teeny, but it all counts, rights? ) Thank you!

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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

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Comments

  1. Michelle Breum

    October 21, 2012 at 9:43 am

    Water beads do look like fun. I pinned this post to a Tips from Moms pinterest board today.
    I totally agree about how tired kids get from a whole day of school and a few organized activities like sports or clubs. Finding time to relax is so important. My kids ages 9, 9, and 11 are getting into playing with legos that their cousin handed down to them. They spend hours creating and pretending. They are building houses, robots, and have little lego people. It’s so important to let them slow down and be kids.
    My daughter asked to use finger paint just last night. We plan on getting it out today. I’m sure her brothers will want to join in.
    I honestly had never heard about water beads. I’m tempted to buy some. Thanks for sharing the links, so I could learn more about them.

    Reply
  2. Brandy

    October 21, 2012 at 1:45 pm

    I really love moments like this with my children. Though, we still haven’t tried water beads. Sounds like a good stocking stuffer idea.

    Reply
    • amy

      October 21, 2012 at 7:38 pm

      thanks so much, Brandy!! GOOOOO get them. They’re addicting.

      Reply

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