Snow Pearls Play

Make snow pearls for some super Winter FUN!

Have your little ones ever explored with water beads?  They are amazingly fun for kids as long as they are out of the mouthing stage.  If you are unfamiliar they are water filled polymers that can be found in the floral section of stores like Walmart and Michaels.  They can also be found online here.  They come in a packet and are really tiny until they are soaked in water.  As they are soaked the water transforms the tiny pellets into amazing water filled gems.  Rosie and Jewel love water beads and were so excited to explore with them in a new and fun way! 

Snow Pearls Materials (affiliate links provided)

• Clear water beads
• White paint
• Water
• A refrigerator or freezer
• Optional additions: Iridescent glitter and/or peppermint extract

To make snow pearls I took clear water beads and soaked them in white water.  To make the white water I simply mixed a few drops of white paint into warm water.  I used enough water to submerge the beads and added more water as the beads grew.  I also added a few drops of peppermint extract to the water to give the beads a Wintry scent

Once the water beads were fully grown I placed them in the fridge overnight.  The next morning the girls delighted in playing with the icy cold pearls.  They felt so fabulously cold and squishy.  

Handling them had a similar sensation to handling melting snow  As play ensued I added lots of iridescent glitter as well as cars, trucks, and scoopers to the sensory bin, and that made things even more fun.  Once the girls were done playing I took the pearls and placed them in the freezer.  Hours later we had frozen snow pearls

These frozen snow pearls were such a fun sensory material.  They were icy cold and slowly melted and transformed during play.  When we first took the pearls from the freezer most of them were frozen together

As Rosie and Jewel played they melted and went through many fabulous texture changes

Rosie and Jewel had lots of fun playing and exploring with the snow themed water gems

A Few Tips:  It will take roughly 4 hours for the water beads to expand to their full size.  If you are unfamiliar with water beads you can read more about them here.  Please do not give water beads to small children who may be tempted to eat them.  Always closely supervise young children.

Click the photos below for more Winter Activities

  

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