The Chaos and the Clutter

Sensory

Ocean Sensory Bottle

Ocean Discovery Bottle that keeps items suspended including the glow in the dark jellyfish and starfish

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After several years of creating sensory bins, bags, bottles, and activities, my brain sees possibilities for sensory play everywhere I go! This ocean sensory bottle came about as a result of me seeing a bottle of blue body wash at the grocery store and thinking “I bet I could make a really cool sensory activity with that.” It worked out exactly as I was hoping it would, with the items staying suspended within the blue gel that looks like water.

Ocean Discovery Bottle that keeps items suspended including the glow in the dark jellyfish and starfishOcean Sensory Bottle:

Materials needed:

VOSS Water BottleVOSS Water BottleSoftsoap Body Wash Citrus Splash & Berry FusionSoftsoap Body Wash Citrus Splash & Berry FusionGood Luck Minis Glow-in-the-Dark Pufferfish, Jellyfish, StarfishGood Luck Minis Glow-in-the-Dark Pufferfish, Jellyfish, Starfish

Squeeze some of the body wash into the water bottle and add the sea glass. Fill a bit more of the body wash and add the glass beads. After adding another layer of body wash, add the mini glow-in-the-dark ocean creatures. When adding sea shells, you will need to choose smaller ones that will fit through the opening of the water bottle.

Ocean Sensory Bottle squareBy layering the body wash and the other items, you are able to suspend the lighter items such as the sea creatures in the blue “water”. The heavier items will eventually sink to the bottom, but when flipped over, they will move slowly through the gel.

If you have young children who may choke on the smaller items or try to eat the body wash, you can seal the lid on the ocean sensory bottle with a hot glue gun.

My kids really enjoyed this ocean discovery bottle, especially the glow in the dark bits and how slowly the items moved through the gel. It also looks really neat when shining a light into it.

Ocean Sensory BottleLooking for more awesome sensory ideas? Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities (just pop your email into the box below) and get a printable list of 175 Great Sensory Ideas.

This Space sensory bottle is naturally weighted. Kids can also use it as an I-Spy activity.

Weighted Space Sensory Bottle

Nature Weaving

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This nature weaving activity combines creativity and the outdoors. It costs nothing and encourages exploration of textures and nature. I got the inspiration from a copy of the Australian Women’s Weekly circa 1970something that I picked up at a friend’s garage sale.

Nature Weaving is such a great activity to encourage kids to explore the world around them.Materials needed:

  • twine
  • four sticks
  • items found in nature

The first step to this activity is to find four sticks. To create more of a square frame, the sticks need to be of similar size or to create a rectangle, two longer sticks and two shorter sticks will do the trick.

Step by step:

  1. Using the twine, make a frame by attaching the sticks together at each corner. You can do this by winding the twine around and knotting once it is securely fastened.
  2. Once your frame is finished, wind the twine around the frame, looping on each end before continuing on to the other side (see photo below) until the frame has lines of twine across it. Secure by knotting.
  3. Go on a nature walk and collect leaves, twigs, weeds, flowers, feathers, grass, and other items for the project.
  4. Weave the items collected one at a time over and under the twine, alternating to create more interest.
  5. Admire your lovely creation!

nature weaving step by stepA few of my kids got really into this project, in particular, Einstein and Dancing Queen, while some were not as interested. I think that had we gone on a big nature hike somewhere, it would have captured their attention more. Looking for items in the backyard wasn’t as appealing as it would have been in a forest or on someone else’s land!

The kids that did participate enjoyed it and especially liked the finished products. It was also neat to see the different variety of things that they came up with to include. Our yard is full of treasures waiting to be found and since we just got back from a week of camping, long grass was certainly not hard to find!

Nature weaving is a good sensory experience for kids as well. There are many different textures that can be included. I think Einstein will probably make these on his own in the future. He also really liked the idea of making a frame out of sticks and now that he has that skill, he will likely create frames for other art projects in the same way.

nature weaving projectIf you are looking for other simple kids’ activities, sign up for our free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get our Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

St. Patrick’s Day Sensory Bottle

St. Patrick's Day Sensory Bottle

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I’m on a mission to make a different sensory bottle every month this year and I thought it would be appropriate to make a St. Patrick’s Day Sensory Bottle for the month of March. I have to admit that this one is actually my second attempt because the items I planned to put in my first concept were too large to fit through the opening at the top of the bottle.

St. Patrick's Day Sensory BottleFor this successful St. Patty’s Day discovery bottle, I added items that could fit through the opening in the water bottle. I also used a combination of glue and water so that the items move differently through the bottle.

Materials needed:

  • empty water bottle (I used a Voss water bottle because I like the look of the lid and the shape of the bottle)
  • 147 mL (5 oz.) bottle clear school glue
  • green glitter
  • hot water
  • shamrock confetti
  • pennies

St. Patrick's Day Sensory Bottle sq.Adding the glue to this sensory bottle helps suspend the items as they travel more slowly through the liquid. In order to achieve this, start with adding the glue to the bottle and filling it almost the rest of the way full with hot water and shaking it to combine.

VOSS Water BottleVOSS Water BottleGreen GlitterGreen GlitterClear GlueClear Glue

Once the water and glue are combined, add the glitter, shamrocks and coins or pennies to the bottle. Replace the lid and give it a good shake.

St. Patrick's Day Discovery BottleThis St. Patrick’s Day sensory bottle does contain small parts, so if younger children are going to play with it, you may want to secure the lid by gluing it in place with a hot glue gun.

If you are looking for other sensory ideas, join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities (just pop your email into the box below) and get a printable list of 175 Great Sensory Ideas.

You can see all of our easy-to-make sensory bottles here.

Solar System Sensory Bin

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We recently did a solar system unit in our homeschooling. It was a really fun unit with lots of easy ways to create hands-on science experiments and interest for the kids. I try to always think of at least one sensory element to go along with the unit studies that we do. For our solar system unit, I made a naturally weighted space sensory bottle and this solar system sensory bin.

Glow in the Dark Solar System sensory binI thought it would be fun to add some glow in the dark elements to this particular sensory bin so I added two different glow in the dark components. One worked better than the other.

For the base of this solar system sensory bin, I used a glitter gravel I picked up at the dollar store. I added two different sizes of decorative black rocks. I used some items from a Space Toob such as a rocket ship, satellite and lunar rover.  For the glow in the dark elements, I added 3D glow-in-the-dark planets which worked really well and sprinkled glow-in-the-dark glitter over some of the black rocks, which didn’t show up as well in the dark.

Solar System sensory bin glows in the darkThis sensory bin allowed a hands-on opportunity for the kids to explore the planets and learn some of their characteristics. They also enjoyed the glow in the dark effects.

For this particular science unit, I think it was beneficial to have two sensory activities, the sensory bin and the space sensory bottle because some of my kids preferred one while others preferred the other. I also brought both to our homeschool co-op and both were explored by all ages of kids.

Space Sensory BottleFor hundreds of other sensory bin ideas, you can also follow my Sensory Bins board on Pinterest.

Follow Sharla Kostelyk’s board Sensory Bins on Pinterest.

If you are looking for information on making sensory bins, you may be interested in my book. The Ultimate Guide to Sensory Bins

Join our free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get our Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

Space Sensory Bottle

This Space themed discovery bottle is naturally weighted which provides more sensory input.

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We are currently doing a Solar System unit in our homeschooling. It has been a really fun science unit to work on because there are so many fun hands-on activities that can go along with it. I created a glow-in-the-dark solar system sensory bin for the kids to play with and also made them this Space sensory bottle.

One of the great things about this particular sensory bottle is that it is naturally weighted because of the rocks. This adds an extra sensory element and some children (and adults!) can find this particularly calming.

This Space themed discovery bottle is naturally weighted which provides more sensory input.Outer Space Sensory Bottle:

Materials needed:

Safari Space TOOBSafari Space TOOBVOSS Water BottleVOSS Water BottleBlack Aquarium GravelBlack Aquarium Gravel

I created this discovery bottle in layers because I didn’t want for the figures to all get stuck at the top and it turns out that was the right call. I put a layer of fill, then half a handful of the decorative rocks, then a space shuttle or satellite or astronaut or two and then repeated the process a few more times. Layering the fill and rocks created pockets for the objects from the Space Toob to sit in.

This Space sensory bottle is naturally weighted. Kids can also use it as an I-Spy activity.This also created an I-Spy type of element to the space sensory bottle as well. The kids could search for the space crafts and astronauts (and their favourite character, the monkey in space) and find them by turning the bottle different ways.

There is also an auditory feedback element to this sensory bottle as it gets tipped back and forth during play.

Space Sensory BottleThis does contain small parts, so if younger children are going to play with it, you may want to secure the lid by gluing it in place with a hot glue gun.

If you are looking for other sensory ideas, you may want to sign up for our free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities (just pop your email into the box below) and get a printable list of 175 Great Sensory Ideas.

Valentines Sensory Bottle

The contents of this Valentines sensory bottle can later be used to create the base of a Valentine's Day sensory bin.

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Every year, we make a themed sensory bin as Valentines Day approaches. This year, I decided to first make a Valentines sensory bottle and once the kids had played with it for a week or two, use the contents as part of the base for this year’s Valentine’s sensory bin.

The contents of this Valentines sensory bottle can later be used to create the base of a Valentine's Day sensory bin.Valentine’s Sensory Bottle:

To make this sensory bottle, I dyed rice pink by putting rice in a bag, adding red food colouring and a splash of rubbing alcohol before giving the bag a good shake. Once all the rice was dyed, I lay it on a cookie sheet to dry.

Materials needed:

  • empty water bottle (I used a Voss water bottle because I like the look of the lid and the shape of the bottle)
  • rice dyed pink or red
  • red pompoms
  • plastic hearts
  • heart and flower shaped beads

VOSS Water BottleVOSS Water BottleRed PomPomsRed PomPomsValentine's Day Heart-Shaped Plastic GemsValentine’s Day Heart-Shaped Plastic Gems

Valentines Sensory Bottle whose contents can be turned into a Valentines sensory bin.Put some of the rice in the bottle and then add some of the pompoms and beads before adding more rice and pompoms and then a few more hearts and heart shaped beads. If you add all the rice before adding the other items, they will get stuck at the top of the sensory bottle.

One of the nice things about using rice in a sensory bottle is that it gives some auditory feedback while kids are playing with it.

When we were done with this particular sensory bottle, we dumped the contents into a bin and used this as a base for our Valentine’s sensory bin this year.

This Valentines sensory bottle contains small parts so if you are going to be giving it to younger children to play with it, you may want to consider securing the lid by gluing it in place with a hot glue gun.

Valentine's Day Sensory BottleIf you are looking for other sensory ideas, join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities (just pop your email into the box below) and get a printable list of 175 Great Sensory Ideas.