Sensory Bottles

So I was on the preschool play blog (which is quickly becoming one of my favorite resources) and saw the cutest idea for a sensory activity. I've been really digging to find some good sensory resources, since I'm trying to increase the number of activities and materials I have available for the children. When I saw her discovery bottles, I had to make my own.

This bottle is little wooden beads with a brown plastic leopard hidden inside. Not only is it fun to shake, but we get to talk about, and play with, the concept of camouflage.


I had the kids get involved in helping me make the bottles, which the really enjoyed. You can see our feather bottle there - with a duck hidden inside. This is a type of puzzle bottle, because the children have to figure out how to get the duck (which is heavy) out from under the feathers (which are light). It's trickier than it looks.

One of the boys is holding our 'smell' bottle (which was made from a Gatorade bottle - the lids don't properly seal because of a small central hole, so I put fake flowers inside which had been sprayed with fragrance. The kids can squeeze it and smell a waft of flowery scent coming through the hole).


This is our glitter & water sensory bottle, which is fun to shake and fascinating to watch. I wouldn't mind finding a slightly more viscous material (some sort of soap?) to fill with glitter so the kids have something to compare this one to.


This is colored sand from the dollar store, with a hidden plastic stegosaurus.

And also, there are a couple of magnet bottles. This is cut up pipe cleaners, and there is one filled with water and paper clips. These are the big hits, allowing the children to play with the concept of magnetism.

All of the bottles are sealed with hot glue, and I do a quick safety inspection before I pull them out. I found the flat bottom bottles (like for Vitamin water) the easiest to clean and the most durable. The pop bottles were miserable to get the labels off of, and are already getting dented and looking slightly worse for wear. I'll keep that in mind as I keep adding to this center.

One things for sure - it is definitely a hit!