Taste Safe “Water Beads”

These taste safe water beads are a perfect sensory activity for your toddler and so easy to do. Since they are made with tapioca pearls, they are 100% taste safe and not dangerous for your little ones to consume. **This post may contain affiliate links. A small commission may be earned.**

It is summer and my kids are full of energy! I am a stay at home mom, so I’m typically used to the craziness, but something about these long summer days really just give my kids all the energy. This summer my kids are 4, 2, and 5 months old (yes, I have my hands full) and I am in full activity mode with them.

I really try to find open ended toys and activities that I can set up, but my kids can use their imagination and own individual thinking to entertain themselves. What I’ve come to find is that water play and sensory play are ALWAYS a winner for my kids, which is why I really loved the ideas of the water beads…

Unfortunately the actual water beads are SCARY for littles and CANNOT be ingested. So for older kids they are super fun – but for my two year old (and even my four year old), it would be a stressful activity for me.

Another thing about me is I want to be able to monitor my kids, but not hover. I want them to be able to play with the activity I set up while I sip my coffee, maybe read a book. Sidenote – I’m currently reading Barefoot and Balanced and loving it. Last summer I read Hunt, Gather, Parent also really good! ANYWAY, so something like the real water beads would have to be heavily monitored for me and I’m not here for that…

So… I found out how to make some edible ones and oh my gosh, it is so cool! I actually did this activity with my kids last year when they were 1 and 3, but this year I threw them into their water table for some extra fun!

Everything you need:

• Tapioca Pearls
• Food Coloring
• Sugar

Full How To:

You first need to cook the tapioca pearls. I personally used the small tapioca pears, but you could definitely find larger pearls and use those!

Cooking the tapioca pearls:

• Get your water boiling on the stove.
• Pour 1-2 cups of tapioca pearls into the boiling water and let them boil on medium heat for 15 mins.
• Strain the pearls and rinse them. If the pearls are fully opaque they’re done! If they still a white center, you’ll want to repeat the process of boiling them for another 5-10 mins and then rinsing.

One the pearls are fully cooked:

• Mix a tablespoon of sugar with 2 tablespoons of warm water and your food coloring. The sugar is necessary for the pearls to not stick to each other!
• I usually do 3-5 colors.
• Disburse your pearls into the different colored sugar water and mix them around to help them absorb the colors.
• Let them sit until they are cooled.

Set up the activity! I’ve done this just in a sensory bin with several spoons, tongs, etc and now this year I set it up in the water table. I still have my kids all the fun scoops and tongs, but this time they were able to put them down the water table slide and what not!

If you are looking for more fun activities to do with your kids this summer check out more toddler activities here. You’re doing a great job! xx Ciara