Exploring Waterbeads

As one of the concluding activities, I brought in waterbeads for children to explore. This exploration catered to sensory-sensitive children and facilitated fine motor skills. Unlike many of the other activities, this was implemented in two programs and therefore the interactions and forms of play varied. In the morning program, children were curious about touching the beads, catching the beads, following the beads bouncing and rolling, and using their finger tips to pinch the beads. In the afternoon program, children were curious about role play using the plastic animal toys. Play took much more within a social context as it became a game for the children to pop the beads and take turns catching one another as animals. The accommodations for this activity involved hand over hand, bringing the activity to a child or independent play. The pictures below highlight the explorations of this activity:

Waterbead activity set up

Dramatic play with plastic animals

Fine motor exploration: picking at beads and observing characteristics by dropping them back into the bin

Accommodation: Bringing activity to child on a tray

Dipping hands in to the bin!

Accommodation: Hand over hand guidance