The Despicable Me movies are close to our hearts as an adoptive family and as fans of laughter. They are such cute stories so I thought I would create some sensory play opportunities for the kids. This Despicable Me Minions sensory bottle was simple to make. I later used the same items to make a Minions sensory bag.

I often use a clear glue and water mixture in my sensory bottles but due to the recent slime craze, it has been more challenging to find clear glue so I have switched most of my sensory bottles over to liquid hand soap as the main filler.

Materials needed:

• water bottle (I used a Voss bottle)
• Despicable Me mini figures
• liquid hand soap
• Goo Be Gone (optional)

To make this Minions sensory bottle, empty the water out of the water bottle either by drinking it or pouring it into another container. Next, peel off the labels. If you end up with residue from the labels on the bottle, you can use Goo Be Gone to remove it. Add a bit of liquid hand soap to the bottle and then drop in a mini figure. Add more liquid hand soap and then another mini figure. Continue to layer them.

One trick I have is to use a long bamboo skewer to move the mini figures in the bottle so that they are facing the way I want them to.

Fill the bottle to the top with the liquid hand soap and screw on the lid. If you are using this sensory bottle with younger children, you will want to secure the lid in place using hot glue.

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Rainbow Rainfall Sensory Bottle

Weighted Space Sensory Bottle

Sensory bottles, sometimes called discovery bottles can be used for a variety of purposes. My kids can’t seem to be able to get enough of them, so I make a new one every few weeks. I find it easier to create them when I choose a theme.

These sensory bottles are perfect for each month of the year. They are also a good starting point for giving you ideas to create your own themed sensory bottles. You can click on each link or picture below to find full instructions as well as find out what materials you’ll need. I use Voss water bottles for mine because I like the look of them but you can use any water bottle.

January – This New Year’s Celebration bottle is perfect to kick off the year with!

February – Valentine’s Day is made for kids to enjoy as well with this sensory bottle.

March – St. Patrick’s Day of course!

April – This Spring sensory bottle is one of our favourites of all time. I especially like the slow, calm-down effect it has.

May – Your kids will enjoy this colourful Rainbow Rainfall Sensory Bottle.

June – My girls adored our princess themed bottle.

July – Your kids can take this sky bottle outside with them and compare it to the actual sky.

August – Find sea creatures in this Ocean sensory bottle.

September – In honour of back to school, this one has a Space theme.

October – The beautiful colours outdoors are mimicked in this Fall sensory bottle.

November – Our melted snowman sensory bottle was so much fun to make!

December – A Christmas I-Spy discovery bottle is great in time for the holidays.

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If you’re looking for more ideas, my friend Angela has compiled a collection of 12 months of their sensory bottles including an adorable pencil-shaped one.

This pretty princess sensory bottle was a big hit with my two youngest daughters. They loved the beautiful colours and shapes of course, but they also liked the sound. The beads from the plastic mardi gras necklace make a tinkling sound on their way down.

My girls liked listening to the beads and watching the gems and confetti sink down. They also liked how pretty this sensory bottle was.

Materials needed:

• empty water bottle (I always use Voss water bottles because I like the size and shape of them)
• gems
• butterfly and flower shaped confetti
• pink plastic hearts
• plastic silver mardi gras necklace
• water
• optional: pink or purple glitter

Place the mardi gras beads, pink hearts, gems, and flower and butterfly shaped confetti in an empty water bottle and then fill it with water. Replace the lid. You can secure the lid with a hot glue gun if you are going to be using this princess sensory bottle with little ones. Adult supervision should of course be used with any sensory activity.

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If you want to, you can add some pink or purple glitter before you add the water and give the sensory bottle a good shake.

Spring Sensory Bottle

Discovering how well coconut flakes work as snow inspired me to create an arctic sensory bottle with them. I hadn’t thought of using coconut before but when we found several bags in our pantry that had expired, I didn’t want them to completely go to waste. I saw that they might work as a sensory bin/bag/bottle filler and tried it in our Christmas I-Spy sensory bag. It really did look like snow!

To create this arctic sensory bottle, fill an empty bottle with the items below.

Materials needed:

• large empty water bottle (I used a Voss water bottle because I like the shape of them)
• bag of coconut flakes
• white feathers
• plastic snowflakes
• arctic toob

Some of the items from the arctic toob don’t fit into the mouth of the bottle (such as the igloo), so I set those ones aside to use in our arctic sensory bag. It can be easier to layer some coconut and then one or two of the items and then add some more of the coconut before adding other items.

Once all the items are in, add the lid back onto the bottle and your arctic sensory bottle is ready to use for play. If you have younger children, you may want to hot glue the lid in place so that they can’t open it. As with all sensory and exploration activities for kids, adult supervision is of course recommended.

This sensory bottle would be a great addition to a learning unit on the North.

Snowflake Sensory Bottle

Space Sensory Bottle

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