Baby Pom Pom Water Play

Did you know you can put pom poms in water and still reuse them once they are dry? This super fun sensory play activity is perfect for babies, toddlers, and even preschoolers! And what kid doesn’t love to play in the water? This Baby Pom Pom Water Play is the best!

Don’t forget to check out my Sight Word Sensory Bin for even more sensory fun! The kids will love using sensory bins as part of their learning! Water play activities are so great for learning!

This just might just be one of my favorite sensory activity ideas! If you have a busy toddler, they’re going to love this. It gives your child opportunities to combine learning with lots of fun.

Pom poms are a great material to use for sensory play. Large ones are baby and toddler safe, and small ones are fun for older children.

As always, parental supervision is required.

As children grow and start elementary school, those pom poms can even be used for schoolwork such as counting, patterning, blending words and more. You can’t go wrong with buying and storing a set!

Table of Contents

Suggested Supplies

Pom poms
bin or tray
water

For this activity all you need are some pom poms (size & amount will depend on your tray!) and a tray or bin. Add a bit of water and toss those pom poms in there! Quick and easy is always a win in my book! Make sure you spread a towel out under your play area to help with spills.

This sensory bin:

✔ is fast and easy to set up

✔ is great for a wide range of ages

✔ has very little mess involved

✔ is super quick to clean up (and kids can help!)

✔ is versatile–work on fine motor, counting, sorting, the possibilities are endless!

Younger children will enjoy splashing in the water and squeezing the pom poms. Here are some more suggestions for enhancing play:

Fine motor practice

Give kids some small tongs or tweezers, and have them practice carefully plucking those colorful balls out of the water. They can even sort them by color, adding more learning to this activity. And when play is over, let them help you squeeze the water out to dry the pom poms. It’s great for working those little hand muscles!

Fine motor skills are so important for eventually being able to hold a writing utensil and begin to write! Here are more great fine motor activities to practice those skills. Bonus, you can use those pom poms for a lot of these activities!

Water activities and water play ideas are so simple to setup as well. You don’t even need a water table at all!

Check out the alphabet fishing activity.

Science exploration

Anytime you introduce a sensory play item in water it’s a great opportunity to discuss what items sink and which float. Once they observe this phenomena, you can go on a fun scavenger hunt to find items to toss in the water. Which ones sink and which ones float? Older kids will love making predictions!

Pouring practice

If you choose to use a deeper bin, give children different size scoops and cups and have them scoop up the pom poms and pour them. This is also great for hand-eye coordination. You can even provide another tray or bin for transferring. Older kids will even be able to use large cups or pitchers.

Pretend Play

Using bowls and spoons, children will love pretending that they are preparing a soup in a kitchen. Or are they combining pom poms to create a magic potion? It’s always fun seeing where their imagination will lead them.

On a hot day, you can even take this activity to the next level and freeze those pom poms.

Your child will be amazed when they see the colorful fuzzy balls trapped inside ice cubes!

They will have so much fun working to free them. Adding warm water will also allow you to discuss the concepts of hot and cold.

Do I need a sensory bin or water table?

You don’t. You can easily use a tray for this and fill it in with water. You don’t need a ton of water for this activity at all. Just enough to make a splash!