He created a hard shell over the water sphere and set it next to the man. HE wouldn't be able to dip his fingers in or feel the wet, but the spell was now stabilized inside the shell that he could hear the tide against it and feel the sense of motion within. A bit more Bending, and he was able to tie the whole thing off to the World's energy, so that his own focus was no longer needed.

He settled onto the ground and let his own sphere pop so he could move to sit beside his new student on the grass. "Alright, think of something from home that you know well. Something you've held so many times it seems a part of you. For one student, it was her glasses, another, his wrench. Chose something you would know in an instant. Nothing alive though, please."