Sensory play includes any activity that stimulates your child’s senses. The five human senses are hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch. By cultivating your child’s five senses, you are encouraging brain development and social growth. Today let’s look at water beads sensory play benefits.
There are many benefits of sensory play outside of growth and development. How can you stimulate the senses safely and productively? With countless research studies, scientists and toymakers have made sensory play easily accessible!
Sensory play items can be anything that introduces new ideas to the five senses. Some sensory items can include bubbles, flashing lights, musical instruments, painting, and more. And an increasingly popular sensory play item is water beads!
Water beads are a great way to stimulate your child’s senses! Want to know more about the benefits of sensory play and water beads? Keep reading to learn how to use water beads and which popular water bead kit is for you!
Benefits of Sensory Play
It Encourages Growth and Development
When participating in sensory play many things are happening for a child. For example, they are being confronted with new sights, textures, and sounds. While this may seem overwhelming, it is the way that their brain develops and intakes information.
Introducing a new texture to a child allows them to store that memory and later recognize similar items in the future. Another way that sensory play encourages growth and development is through problem-solving skills.
Very few children lack imagination and wonder. When presented with new items, they will want to observe, explore, and create. Observing and exploring new sights and sounds will ignite an idea. This exploration and creation force the child to practice their problem-solving skills to achieve their desired action.
Sensory play also encourages the development of motor skills, both fine and gross motor skills. Gross motor skills are basic bodily movements that require the body’s large muscles. Gross motor skills in children can include crawling, sitting, walking, running, jumping, etc. Fine motor skills are bodily movements that require the body’s smaller muscles. Fine motor skills in children can include pinching, snapping, grasping, tapping, etc.
It Builds Connections
Sensory play can build two different types of connections: social connections and nerve connections. While participating in sensory play, children are building brain nerve connections. As stated earlier, introducing new senses allows children to store memories and recognize future similarities.
Social connections can include language skills, peer relationships, and communication abilities. Allowing a child to experience multiple sensations (sight, smell, touch, etc.) at once prepares them for future situations. The introduction of multiple senses is a similar experience to being around other playing children.
Another way sensory play builds connections is through communication. It is always a good idea to allow your child to experience sensory play with others and peers. By introducing others to their play area, it gives children a chance to communicate their ideas and wants. With instruction, they can learn new words and meanings.
Most Popular Water Bead Sensory Play Accessories
Leeche Nontoxic Water Beads Kit
Leeche’s Nontoxic Water Beads Kit comes with 300 giant gel beads and 20,000 smaller gel beads. These water beads were specifically designed for sensory toys and decorations.
To protect your children, these water beads are toxic-free and intended for children three years and older (due to potential choking hazards). Not only are they toxic-free, but they are also non-flammable, biodegradable, and environmentally friendly.
To aid in your child’s sensory exploration, these water beads are a tool to introduce colors and textures. Leeche describes their product as follows,
“Fully expanded, smooth, squishy water beads create a soothing tactile experience. Ideal for keeping kids happy and busy for hours, playing a fun game, [and a] great learning tool”.
You can introduce color recognition, counting practice, imagination training, and communication skills!
Creativity for Kids Sensory Bin: Ocean and Sand
With this brand, you receive more than just various-sized water beads. The Creativity for Kids Sensory Bin: Ocean and Sand come with the following items:
- Sensory Bin
- Two Pounds of Soft Sensory Sand and Water Beads
- Ocean Animal Toys
- Scoop
- Sand Sifter
- Sand Molds
- River Rocks
This kit provides all the necessary items for your sensory bin. According to Creativity for Kids, their water bead kit promotes sensory development, fosters imaginative play, and develops fine motor skills. This kit is intended for children three years and up.
UWEAONTIME DOTH: Water Beads Pack with Sensory Toys
This company provides its customers with a plethora of water beads and sensory tools! Each kit comes with the following items:
- 30,000 small water beads
- 150 large water beads
- 15 balloons
- 2 scoopers
- 1 tweezer
By soaking these beads in water, customers can grow their water beads up to ten sizes their original size! With many small water beads available, the manufacturing recommended age is 8-13 years old.
This water bead kit is geared toward elementary/middle school ages in mind. Because it comes equipped with older tools such as balloons and tweezers. The tweezers aid with hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Sensory toys and bins are applicable for all children growing up. There is always room to grow!
The balloons and tweezer can aid older children in creating stress-ball balloons. This new creation allows children to squeeze, pull, feel, and explore. The UWEAONTME DOTH Sensory Toys can ignite imagination and internal ideas.
Which Water Bead Option is for You?
With so many water bead options out there, it can be hard to choose the right one for your child. When choosing water beads for sensory play, consider their age and capabilities.
For toddler-aged children, they will need to be monitored closely. Water beads start extremely small. Small children, who are still learning, may try to eat or explore in other unhealthy ways.
Younger children are learning what is food and what is not food, it is vital to let them safely explore sensory bins. With that, always make sure your water beads are nontoxic!
For children that understand the difference between food and non-food items, they can explore with more advanced water bead kits. Many water bead kits are equipped with intricate tools that require concentration and focus. Fine tip tools and other similar mechanisms may work better for older children.
After considering your child’s age and capability, look for what they are interested in! Many water bead kits come with tools and toys; some items may align with your child’s interests. If not, you can always add small molding toys, vehicles, tools, etc.
We hope this explanation of water beads sensory play benefits helped you! Which water bead sensory play kit will you buy? Let us know!