# Edible Water Beads (Rainbow Boba Pearls)
> Cook quick tapioca boba pearls, tint them with gel food color, and float them in a shallow tub of water. They make a non-toxic look-alike for vase-filler water beads.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/sensory-activities-edible-water-beads/
- Ages: 3–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep 45 min, activity 30 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class · one batch serves about 2 kids
- Skills: sensory-exploration, colors, fine-motor, language
- Cautions: food-dye, ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- 0.5 cup 5-minute tapioca boba pearls (rainbow)
- 5 cup Water for cooking (household)
- 1 drop Gel food coloring (optional)
- 1 piece Saucepan with lid (household)
- Small bowls (one per color) (household)
- 1 piece Shallow tub (household)
- Favorite small toys, scoops or cups (optional) (household)

## Substitutions
- Instead of boba pearls: Sabudana (sago pearls) (A reader tried it and it worked perfectly; the author says they turn out great too.)
- Instead of gel food color: Skip the color (Uncolored pearls look less like candy, which may make them less tempting to taste.)

## Safety
- Choking hazard: the pearls are big enough to get stuck in a young child's throat. Not suitable for babies or kids who still put objects in their mouths.
- 'Edible' only means the pearls are non-toxic, unlike vase-filler water beads. Introduce them as play material, not food, and supervise closely.
- Adult handles the boiling water. Let the pearls cool completely before kids touch them.

## Before you start
- Cook the pearls and color them at least 30 minutes before play so the color can set.
- Let the pearls cool completely.

## Steps
1. Adult: bring 5 cups of water to a boil and add 1/2 cup of boba pearls.
2. Adult: boil until the pearls start to become tender.
3. Adult: cover and simmer for 3-4 more minutes.
4. Drain the pearls and divide them into small bowls, one for each color.
5. Add a drop of gel food color to each bowl and stir.
6. Let the pearls sit for about half an hour until the color sets in.
7. Pour the cooled pearls into a shallow tub of water.
8. Play with your hands or add your favorite toys.

## Tips
- On their own the tapioca balls are sticky and clump together. That's a different kind of fun, but add them to water for easy sensory play.
- Since the pearls are dyed with food color, a little color will run into the water. The kids were having too much fun to care.
- We're partial to gel food coloring for its vibrant colors.
- They keep 2-3 days at most. Store them in just a bit of water: too much muddies the colors and too little dries them out.
- Gel color didn't bleed much, but liquid food color stained hands quite a bit. Go with gel. (from readers)
- Plain boba from a Chinese supermarket is much cheaper than online. Just add your own food color. (from readers)
- A 17-month-old played for over an hour. Great for color words and language building. (from readers)

## FAQ
**Will this work with plain large tapioca?** The author hasn't tried it and isn't sure. Sabudana (sago pearls) has worked for readers.
**Won't kids think it's OK to eat them?** The author introduces them only as a sensory play material; the kids don't know they're edible. The point is that an accidental swallow isn't a serious problem, unlike real water beads. Plain, uncolored pearls are less tempting.
**Are they safe if swallowed?** They are non-toxic, but readers warn they are big enough to lodge in a toddler's throat. Supervise, and skip this for kids who still mouth objects.
**How long do they keep?** 2-3 days at most, stored with just a bit of water.
**What's in the colored pearls?** A reader listed the rainbow pearls' ingredients: tapioca starch, acetylated starch, CMC, guar gum, sodium hydrogen diacetate, water and FD&C dyes (Yellow 5 and 6, Red 40, Blue 1).

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013)

*Please supervise the children if you decide to do this activity at home. Edible simply means that the material is not toxic like the aqua beads that are used as vase fillers. This activity is not suitable for babies or kids who still put objects in their mouths.* Water beads or aqua beads are such a fun sensory material. Sensory play activities with water beads as base are sure to be a big hit with the kids. They are smooth, squishy and lend themselves to many wonderful spin offs . Add shaving cream, play under a light table and many more. We did a pond [**sensory play activity for toddlers**](https://www.funlittles.com/sensory-activities-pond-life-sensory-play/) with those guys. But the sad part is they are inedible to say the least - swallowing those little guys leads to severe complications. In order to have a much calmer time while playing with water beads I really wished for a look-alike that was safe even if ingested accidentally. { I would still supervise the kids) Introducing "water-beads" look-alike BOBA pearls. Sensory activity with water beads look-alike that are safe to eat! Now that will make it baby and toddler safe. If you are new to boba pearls, check out **[this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boba_milk_tea)** article for more information. They are **tapioca balls** and are used in a popular Taiwanese drink - bubble tea.

### Recipe

Boba pearls are available easily online on Amazon. I went for the rainbow boba but they come in many colors. Make sure you get the 5 minute boba for a quick recipe.

 Then I followed the directions and cooked the pearls. For 1/2 cup of pearls add 5 cups of water and boil them until they start to become tender.

 Cover and simmer for 3-4 more minutes and you should get these pearls. Truly they cooked with 5 minutes.



The colors are bright by themselves but for an extra fun sensory activity I wanted even brighter colors. So food colors to the rescue. I added a drop of gel food color and made a batch of rainbow boba pearls. A colorful sensory activity! We are always partial to gel food coloring for their vibrant colors.



My rainbow line up of beads for a fun sensory activity.



I let the boba pearls sit for about half an hour until the color is absorbed and sets in.

### Play

Now time to play with this SAFE sensory element.The only think you need to remember is while these tapioca balls are fun by themselves they are sticky and attach to each other. That's a different kind of fun.

 But if you are looking for fun all you need to do is add these beads to a shallow tub of water and the kids are on their way to an extra FUN sensory activity. Since we just used food color to dye the pearls, you will see a small amount of color run into the water. But the kids were having too much fun with these SAFE beads. Add your favorite toys or simply play with your hands!









**Notes**: They will keep for 2-3 days at the maximum. Store water beads with only with a bit of water. Too much water will muddy out the colors and too little will dry them out.

**Thanks for reading**