Can You Color Water Beads Activity

We asked the question can you color clear water beads? And the fun answer was yes, you can color clear water beads, and we will show you how we did it.

This is a simple waterbead STEM activity you can do with kids.

We have included links to some of the products and resources we have used with the water bead coloring activity. If you purchase via the links we may earn a small commission.

We just love water bead at our house. The girls can just play with them for hours! I can as well. Most of the water beads we have used have been colored. We decided it was time to see what would happen is we put food coloring in the water.

What you need for the Water Bead Coloring Activity:

• clear water beads (or gems)
• 6 cups
• food coloring
• water

How we did the Water Bead Coloring Activity

I am going to show you the steps that we used for coloring the water beads.

Put Waterbeads in Clear Cups

First thing we did is count the same number beads into each cup. You want to make sure you have 6 or 7 beads in each cup.

Put Food Coloring in Each Cup

We put the food coloring into the cups. We made sure only to use red, yellow, and blue to make all the colors. We put 6 drops of food coloring into the cups.

We did the color mixed with the three colors for the other colors.

Put Water in with the Food Coloring and Beads

Then we poured the water into the cups and let them set for an hour.

If you put warm water in the beads will grow faster. Also try to use the same size cups and amount of water to make sure they all get the same amount of color.

Check the Beads For How Much Color They Have

We checked on our water beads an hour later to see what had happened. We saw that the beads had adsorbed some of the color and were not full yet.

You can skip this step if you want the beads to have a darker color. Or put more food coloring in.

We put more water in and left them over night. When we checked them the next day, we noticed that the water was colored as well the beads and we could barely see them in the water.

We poured all the beads on a white paper and looked at them. We had fun look at them in a bowl as well.

Have you had any fun with water beads lately?

Here are some other fun Water Bead Activities

Why Use Water Beads in Sensory Bins is all about using waterbeads in sensory bins.

Fall Painting With Water Beads is a fun activiy to use water beads for painting!

Water beads, Vinegar & Baking Soda STEM is a super fun activity with waterbeads for kids to try out.

Cassie – 3Dinosaurs.com