November 17, 2023

DIY Water Blob – Giant Sensory Water Bubble!

DIY Water Blob - A Giant Sensory Water Bubble!

As soon as the weather started to heat up I knew we needed to try one of these ‘Water Blobs’! I originally found the inspiration for this project on Pinterest via – Homemade Toast.

I loved their idea of melting the plastic to make a tight seal…sounded a lot easier than fighting with a giant roll of duct tape!

They used an Iron to melt theirs but I decided to see if my good old ‘GH Hair Straightener’ would do the trick – it may as well be used for something…I can’t remember the last time I used it on my hair lol!

Make sure you also check out the GLOWING one we made here! And why not pop across and LIKE us on FACEBOOK!

What you’ll need –

  • A flat section of grass or decking close to a hose (It will NEED to be level or your Blob will just roll down the hill…trust me!!)
  • Scissors
  • Duct tape
  • Baking paper
  • Hair Straigtener (if you don’t own one you could follow the directions for an iron found here).
  • Clear plastic sheeting*

*We bought ours from the local hardware store off the roll. It was 2 meters wide and cost $1.80 per meter (I used 4 meters = $7.20). It is typically used by builders, painters and furniture removalists to protect furniture or flooring.

Firstly I folded my plastic in half to give me a 2 x 2 meter square. I then folded a strip of baking paper in half lengthways (aprox 80cm in length). I placed the folded paper over the join at the fold of plastic.

I then clamped my heated hair straightener over the folded paper and gradually moved along the folded paper as pictured. ***WARNING*** The plastic will be very hot where you have sealed it – wait for it to cool for aprox 20secs before moving the paper along to the next section. You should be able to see clearly where your plastic has been melted together (as pictured).

DIY Water Blob - A Giant Sensory Water Bubble!

Continue to work your way around the plastic joins until you reach the final corner, you will need to leave a 3cm hole to feed the hose into your plastic pocket. Once completed I gave the plastic a thorough look-over to see if their were any holes – I found one section that had a small hole so I cut some Duct tape to fit and stuck that over the hole (it held fast and never leaked from that spot).

DIY Water Blob - A Giant Sensory Water Bubble!

I used my phone to time how long the above took me (nearly 19mins)– granted this was my first time I think that was fast :)… I’m sure I could do it twice as fast now I know what I’m doing  :).

DIY Water Blob - A Giant Sensory Water Bubble!

Then came the best part – filling up our giant ‘Water Blob’.

We started by adding some blue food colouring (aprox 20ml), then we inserted the hose and watched it fill. The kids enjoyed watching the blue food colouring spread. *It helps to prop the hose up on something like an up-turned tub.

DIY Water Blob - A Giant Sensory Water Bubble!

They could barely contain themselves while waiting the whole 10mins it took to fill up! Finally when it was filled I removed the hose and used some Duct Tape to seal the opening…GO TIME!!!

DIY Water Blob - A Giant Sensory Water Bubble!

My 18mth old boy was a little unsure at first but it didn’t take him long to start enjoying the squishy, floating & cool sensation.

DIY Water Blob - A Giant Sensory Water Bubble!

My 5yo thought (and still thinks) it was the best thing since sliced bread! We invited Jenni and the kids to come and join us for a play and they all loved it just as much!!

DIY Water Blob - A Giant Sensory Water Bubble!

It wasn’t long before the hose was requested to be on the blob to add some more water fun…my 18month old was happy to be the ‘Water Boy’ lol.

After an hour Master L spotted a hole so we grabbed some duct tape and secured the area (as pictured)…this solved that problem and fixed the leak.

DIY Water Blob - A Giant Sensory Water Bubble!

We will definitely be doing this again and again over the summer months! How much FUN would it be at a Pool Party??!!

We took some video of the kids playing on it – you can watch that below:

A few important WARNINGS -I recommend this ‘Blob’ is prepared away from children as it can be dangerous for children in the fact you use a very hot heating tool, the empty plastic is also a very dangerous suffocating hazard. I would recommend you make this after they have gone to bed or whilst they’re at school as a fun after school surprise!

Another important note – our ‘Water Blob’ is still going strong on our deck three days later – Miss M wanted to play on it again this afternoon, I went out to inspect it and the water was very hot from being in the sun for three days (it’s been a very hot). I busted a new hole in it (seemed easier than finding the original hole) and filled it with some fresh water – it didn’t need much to cool it down again.

We hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and the many FUN photos and video! You can watch all our video tutorials here.

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24 thoughts on “DIY Water Blob – Giant Sensory Water Bubble!

  1. I don’t know how you two do it…you are amazing….its gotten really nice and warm we went straight from Winter to Summer ..we seem to have skipped Spring altogether.This is def on my list. After hubby gave me a GHD for Christmas my old straightener has been collecting dust (not for long) thanx – Ana

  2. Very cool, got me to thinking easier way, easy is good, used to do this pillow size years ago at my child care, kids always love water and the feel. Wonder how an old water bed bladder would go, even getting swimming pool double floater fill with water, (for those with less space and no heat/hair straightener less area to use/ fight with duct tape)often pick them up cheap.
    Nice work so much fun! :0) And your timing was great. Its a big job!
    If see through plastic could put glitter in or cotton balls, fish cut from coloured plastic bags or cellophane? to chase or find.

  3. Hi, has anyone tried a double layer water blob? I thought I might be able to get a really big piece of plastic and fold it in half and then fold one layer in half on top and the other on the bottom and then you’d have a top water blob and a bottom one and could have two colours? Or am I just confusing you?
    Also has anyone doubled the plastic for extra strength?

  4. OMG! I’m trying this when (if) summer gets to the UK!
    I’m thinking glitter in with the water too…. Oooooo wonder what it’ll be like with aqua crystals in it too…..

  5. Pingback: Glowing Water Blob
  6. This is such a great idea. This suprise sunny weather has been awesome. Will be trying this out and bogging about it if you don’t mind? I’ve been doing a series of outside fun posts

  7. This is so great. Thank you. We will use it this summer during our summer programming at our Montessori School.

  8. What mil is the plastic? Is this the same plastic as a “drop cloth” that can be bought at Wal Mart in the painting section, it comes in different thicknesses (mil’s).

    1. Hi Candi, I’m not 100% sure of the mil thickness. We bought ours directly off a huge roll at our local hardware store. I will try to call them today and ask if there is a measurement or more details? It’s early morning here now – I will report back when they open :).
      Louise x

      1. Hi Karen, it’s a paper we use to line our baking trays when making cookies & cakes? Would it maybe be called parchment paper where you live? Louise x

  9. this is super….when my son was young i was fortunate enough to get 2 waterbed bladders. we filled them out in the yard and my son and his friends had a blast playing and laying on them. it was like playing on jello.

  10. Pingback: Water Blob Twister

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