This activity doubled as the day’s sensory play and a way to tick off a box on our countdown to Halloween. And it couldn’t have been easier!

I filled a tub with purple water beads and water so the beads could grow to full size. The kids were so impatient to play, though, that I handed over the bin when the beads were only half as big as they could eventually get. To add spooky monsters, all we needed were large wiggle eyes.

At first the eyes were floating on the surface. But Travis loved burying them as deep under the water beads as he could, and then unearthing the “monsters”.

They were so eerie swimming to the surface. Veronika jumped right in to copy him!

She also loved scooping up handfuls of the water beads and then letting them trickle back down.

Before I knew it, the game changed slightly. Star Wars Stormtroopers needed to escape from the monsters!

This kept the kids so busy and happy the entire time I was prepping dinner. A definite spooky win.