Summer leads to lots of water play in our house! The great thing about water play is that it’s easy to set up and clean up, like our star sensory soup. There are just a few simple materials in this pipe cleaner magnetic water sensory bin can lead to lots of play and learning time. Sensory bins are also full of all kinds of science and math concepts that little learners benefit from being exposed to.
Water and magnets are 2 of our favorite areas to play with in my classroom. Adding them together is inviting for kids of all ages!
Affiliate links are provided to show the specific items used in this water play!
Set Up Pipe Cleaner Magnetic Water Play
You can see in the pictures, that there are not many supplies!
- fun colored pipe cleaners
- scissors
- magnetic wand
- other magnets
- shallow plastic bin
- water {of course!}
Cut the pipe cleaners into pieces. The more pieces, the better! Fill the bin with water about 1/3 to 1/2 way. Add the cut up pipe cleaners to the bin…and play!
Yes, it’s really that easy!
Magnetic wands are perfect for this water sensory bin! They are long enough that little hands move them through the water easily. They only have magnets on the end so toddlers and preschoolers can observe the magnetic attraction between the magnets and the pipe cleaners.
My preschooler and almost 2nd grader spent a long time today with magnets in the water moving the pipe cleaners around the water. They tried drawing letters with the clump of pipe cleaners. The big thing for them was getting each and every pipe cleaner to attach itself to the wand. There were too many, so it wouldn’t happen, but they didn’t give up easily!
It was just as fun to slide all the pipe cleaners off the wand as it was to get them all on the wand! They could have played for a full hour, but we were headed to the library, so I cut the magnet play short.
Clean up was just as easy as the set up. The kids used the wands to attract as many pipe cleaners as possible before pulling them all out. And then they slid them off into a bowl to dry out. I dumped the bin full of water in the grass and clean up was done!
Be aware that most magnet type toys and learning items should not be left in water for long periods of time and should be dried after water play. This will help these type of items to avoid becoming rusty.
How fun!! I never even thought of these working underwater. Could help teach colors, counting and more! Love it!
Thanks Jamie!
Very fun! I've never used a magnetic wand with my daughter before. Sounds fun! Thanks for linking up on #ToddlerFunFriday!
Magnetic wands are a favorite toy in my preschool class! We had to order more! 🙂
Love the idea of using magnets – I'll have to get one of these! Thanks for sharing on #ToddlerFunFriday
Do you have any problems with rusting or the magnets losing their strength?
No, but when we are done playing I do dry the magnetic wands and let the pipe cleaners air dry.