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Home / Early Learning / Sensory / Winter Sensory Activities With Water Beads

Winter Sensory Activities With Water Beads

Shared by Mary Catherine 15 Comments

Are you looking for some great winter activities for preschoolers? Look no further than these fun winter sensory activities. Students will have a ball investigating some new science concepts while getting to engage their senses!

Winter sensory activities with water beads and ice

Are you following Fun-A-Day’s Winter Pinterest board?

The kiddos really enjoyed the winter sensory activities Mary Poppins and I had out recently.  Actually, they ended up enjoying the bins a little too much!  Let me share what happens “when preschoolers go wild”!

Related: Winter Activities for Preschoolers

Table of Contents

  • Winter Sensory Activities
  • Winter Sensory Activity Materials
  • Setting up the Winter Sensory Experiment
  • Done-for-You Preschool Resources

Winter Sensory Activities

At this age, kids love getting the chance to explore their senses. And sometimes, that can be hard to incorporate in the winter. So, that’s why I wanted to share this activity with you all!

Winter Sensory Activity Materials

First, you’ll need to gather the materials. Luckily, you don’t need much for the experiment and sensory play activities. Here’s what we used (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):

  • Blue water beads
  • Clear water beads
  • Ice trays
  • Cooking oil
  • Freezer Bags
  • Instant snow
  • Measuring cups
  • Spoons
  • Small arctic animal toys
  • Other toys of choice

Setting up the Winter Sensory Experiment

We began the week with blue and clear water beads, along with ice cubes.  Some of the children had never played with water beads, so they were fascinated by the shape and texture.  The ice added a different element, making the water beads feel colder.  The ice also acted as a contrasting texture when compared to the water beads, which some children mentioned right away.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Mary Poppins and I spoke with the children about how animals like polar bears have an extra layer of fat that keeps them warm during the winter.  To let the kids experience this, we put cooking oil in two sealed baggies.  The kids put one hand between the oil-filled baggies, and one hand went directly into the water.  This experiment worked very well to show how insulating fat can be . . . . . .  at least until one of the children opened the bag of oil.  Then we ended up with oil in the water beads, oil on the floor (thank goodness we had the tarp down), and even some oil on a nearby bulletin board.

Winter sensory activities with water beads, ice, and oil

While I wanted to give the kiddos the benefit of the doubt, it became rather obvious that one of them had done it on purpose.  However, I didn’t see what happened, so I just reminded the children about listening, following directions, and treating our school supplies nicely.  I poured some Dawn dish soap in the oily water beads, added water, and let that sit overnight.  As Mary Poppins pointed out, it was a nice example of how to clean up oil spills!

Fake snow and water beads are fun to explore with winter sensory activities

The next day, we left the cleaned up water beads in one side of the discovery center.  The other side housed fake snow, since the children had so much fun playing with it a few weeks ago.  Throughout the rest of the week, the kiddos continued to have fun in the discovery center.  In addition to measuring, pouring, touching, and observing, the kiddos also squeezed the life out of some of the water beads.  This led to an odd gelatinous substance in part of our discovery center, and not all of the children enjoyed that experience!  From there, the children decided it would be a great idea to mix the water beads and the “snow”.  This turned everything into an even more cringe-inducing consistency, but some of the kids liked it.

winter sensory activities with water beads ice and fake snow

Honestly, I couldn’t be that upset with them for fully exploring the discovery center materials!  That’s what that center is all about, and it’s a child’s job to explore the world around her.  I was a little unhappy about our preschool “oil spill” because that wasn’t following directions, but everything else was fine.  Yes, it was rather messy and a little gross . . . but, again, isn’t that part of the fun of a sensory/discovery center?!  🙂

Kids love adding toy animals to winter sensory activities - these animals are enjoying water beads and fake snow

What are some discovery/sensory activities you’ve done that have gone way off course?  I’d love to hear about them!  I would also love to hear about the winter sensory activities that were a big hit with the kiddos!

Water beads with snow and ice make great winter sensory activities for kids

Done-for-You Preschool Resources

Planning meaningful lessons for students week after week while balancing other teaching responsibilities and a personal life can be a daunting task. That’s where Preschool Teacher 101 comes in to save you time!

This snow and ice themed sensory activity was such a blast. If you liked it, make sure to check out Preschool Teacher 101’s snow and ice themed resources!

Snowflakes lesson plan cover image with thumbnails of printable and cartoon of child wearing snow suit, hat, and mittens.
Snowflakes Lesson Plans
Ten little snowflakes winter song and math pack cover image including thumbnails of the printable and snowflake graphics.
10 Little Snowflakes Winter Song & Math Pack
Preschool Snowman Theme Plans
Snowman Lesson Plans

Join The Pack from Preschool Teacher 101 today for exclusive access to our content. We have a variety of membership options to suit your needs.

Filed Under: Sensory Tagged With: Winter

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Comments

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  1. Lauren Ivy Chiong says

    February 20, 2013 at 9:46 pm

    Awesome post–I want my daughter to try some of these things 🙂 I have to say we went a little crazy with the stamp pad last week. We have several silver stains on the table now.

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      February 20, 2013 at 9:56 pm

      You should definitely try some of these materials! Barring the oil, they’re all pretty easy cleanup. Glad to hear we’re not the only ones who can get crazy with the stamp pad!!

      Reply
  2. Kim @ 2justByou says

    February 21, 2013 at 10:42 am

    Oh no for the oil spill! But overall, it sounds like a great time. We bought some of those water beads, but haven’t tried them out yet. I now forget where I put them…I’ll have to try to find them!
    ~Kim

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      February 21, 2013 at 1:38 pm

      Water beads really are fun to have in the sensory table. Let me know how it goes when you try them out. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  3. Lorie says

    February 21, 2013 at 4:30 pm

    Love the idea of the oil experiment! Might not try it right away based on your experience though. 🙂

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      February 21, 2013 at 5:08 pm

      Hahahaha!! I think it’s an experiment that you can’t walk away from. That’s the mistake I made (and won’t be making again). . . I turned away to do something else before I put the oil bags up! 🙂 Let me know how it goes if you do try it.

      Reply
  4. Carolyn says

    February 24, 2013 at 7:02 pm

    You’ve got some fantastic ideas here. I did like the idea of the oil experiment and it’s usefulness…. just goes to show, children always need supervising!!!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      February 24, 2013 at 7:32 pm

      Thank you for stopping by! 🙂 And, yes, the kiddos can sure get into anything and everything!

      Reply
  5. Shelley Bryan says

    March 2, 2013 at 12:27 pm

    I had never heard of water beads before I read this. I will be looking for them now.
    I really love your blog and all of theses wonderful activities including the mishaps.

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      March 2, 2013 at 12:36 pm

      Oh my word . . . we have been playing with water beads for a while now. Every child I’ve introduced them to has looooooved them! They’re usually in the flower section of craft stores. Thanks for coming by!! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Sherri says

    January 4, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    I’m a preschool director and teacher and while searching for some fun ideas for our winter theme at preschool, I happened across your site. While this a year after your original post, I wanted to share an alternative to oil for the “blubber” experiment. I’ve done this, but I use Crisco. It has the same insulating effect and is easier to control and clean up than oil.

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      January 8, 2014 at 9:09 pm

      Thanks for the suggestion, Sherri! I am definitely going to have to try Crisco next time. I am always looking for ideas, so I really appreciate your comment. 🙂

      Reply
  7. cheryl says

    January 22, 2015 at 12:56 pm

    I have used the oil experiment. I have also used crisco on their hands and then put them in ice. They loved it!

    Reply
  8. Natasha says

    January 23, 2015 at 4:55 pm

    I was felling the whole oil part until you said spill, nope, I’m not gonna try that. But we do love water beads and I want to try the mixing it with ice. I’ve had a grass sensory activory that went array and left me picking up easter grass for a month. I just kept finding it all over the house.

    Reply
  9. Sandi says

    January 24, 2015 at 2:34 pm

    I use Crisco in a blubber glove too. Sorry, I have blocked all our many disasters from my mind. ha ha

    Reply
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My name is Mary Catherine, and I love to share meaningful {and fun} learning activities for kiddos! Feel free to browse and stay awhile!

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