How Many Water Beads Can Fill a Kiddie Pool?
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Water beads are the multi-colored tiny balls made of polymer that expands in water. If you haven’t tried swimming in these fun soft beads, then why not try doing it now? Yet, have you ever wondered how many water beads can fill a kiddie pool?
Kiddie pools vary in size and so are the water beads required to fill them. It takes about 600,000 water beads to fill an average size kiddie pool. Large pools may, of course, require more beads.
You can also do the math and get a number that is close to 600,000 or the average number of water beads required to fill a kiddie pool. You can use Orbeez, one of the most trusted brands for quality and durability when it comes to water beads for kids’ party and other fun activities.
Digging Deeper to Solve the Puzzle

So, this is how the calculation goes. Imagine a pool that can hold about 168 gallons of water. Some online stores sell an Orbeez packet containing 4 ounce or 6,800 water beads. Scooping a tablespoon of these dry beads will make up about 8-9 cups of the hydrated and expanded beads.
Four ounces of Orbeez are equal to eight tablespoons. Multiplying eight by nine or the amount a tablespoon makes when hydrated, gives 72 cups of the expanded beads. Remember that a 168-gallon pool is equal to 2688 cups of water.
Now, if you divide 2688 by 72 or the amount a 4oz bag supplies, you get about 37 bags of Orbeez to fully fill the pool. However, not everyone wants the idea of having the pool 100% filled with these colorful soft gel balls. It’s because it is more difficult to move their bodies in the pool. For some folks, though, this is cool.
This is just to give you an idea of how many bags of water beads you need if you want to fill kiddie pools or even swimming pools in full capacity. You can vary the number of beads you want for your pool based on this calculation.
Exploring the Many Uses of Water Beads

Children love water beads. This is even true for adults. Yet, not all adults would love the idea of filling their pools with water balls to reach their full capacity. Some may want it half-filled. Others may prefer swimming without these soft polymer balls.
Here are the other uses of water beads that anyone of any age will surely enjoy.
Water Beads for Sensory Play
Once children see a bowl of hydrated beads, they couldn’t resist the urge to squish them with their hands. The sensation it brings to the palm of their hands makes them feel good or even feel better. This is not just fun but even gives them relief.
Adults who have tried this sensory play with these water beads during their childhood still love these squishy colorful hydrated balls. They sometimes allow themselves to play with these beads to relieve the day’s stress or simply for fun and relaxation. Getting a bowl of these beads to squish them with your hands is indeed a therapy that often brings grown-ups to fun childhood memories.
Water Beads on Shaving Cream
Being passionate about water beads for sensory play will even double the fun and sensory effects if you mix it with shaving cream. These creams are naturally awesome sensory materials and by mixing water beads into the cream, you double or even triple the sensation it brings to your skin.
This is good for playing with your kids around the house. You can make a cake out of shaving cream with the beads on top of your cake for decorations. This even gives you the opportunity for great family bonding while enjoying sensory play.
Water Beads in Bath Tubs
This is similar to the idea of filling kiddie pools with these polymer balls. Kids and even parents who love the sensation of these balls while having a bubble bath can do this in their bathtubs. Pamper yourself with these soft colorful balls. This is good for family fun and relaxation.
Sorting Water Beads
Sorting is a great way to teach young kids with colors. It also boosts their creativity and imagination sort out beads and blend them with other colors. This gives them the opportunity to be more creative with designs inside bottles, vases or any other transparent container.
This sorting activity also enhances their social and emotional development as they play along with other kids in the neighborhood or even in school. This is also another cool way to teach young kids to count. Counting could be done either per soft colorful beads or even in scoops or spoonfuls.
Light Table with Water Beads
Having a light table during the Christmas season or even just for display at any time of the year is a pleasant sight within the house. You will even be amazed by the presence of a light table if you put hydrated water beads on top of your light table.
These awesome colorful water beads shine brilliantly on top of the light table. It is good for introducing children to learning, art, and light table play.
Bounce Water Beads
Children love the idea of bouncing with trampolines and bounce houses. If you want to know whether water beads bounce like balls do, try dropping them on the floor and you will definitely know it does. This is another sort of fun and entertainment for the kids that they can introduce to their playmates.
The Science of Water Beads
Having a younger kid at home is actually fun if you show him how water beads grow when placed in water. Once you have shown to the kid how these tiny beads expand, leave a pitcher with water beside the bowl with beads. Let your child learn after a few minutes that the more he/she adds water to the beads, the more these polymers expand. Let your kid know that these beads stop growing if you take them out of the water. However, putting them back in water will resume growth.
Water beads are not just colorful. They can even soothe your mood in a very nice way. These can calm tense nerves or energize your body. The beads simply have a therapeutic effect on children and adults.

Related Questions
- How long does it take for water beads to grow to their full size?
It takes an average of 8 hours to grow water beads fully. You can even try freezing them or hydrating in tonic for both fun and home experiment for family members to enjoy.
- How long do water beads last?
They can last indefinitely. Once these beads shrink back, place them into a ziplock plastic bag and try hydrating them again whenever you need to.
- What are the available colors for buying water beads in craft stores?
You can purchase water beads per pack. These are available in a single color, multi-color or even clear ones.
- When and where were these water beads first used?
Water beads were first used in agriculture for decades in the Middle East and other countries where the availability of water is very limited.

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