sensory bottles

Give your little one a chance to have some fun as they learn with these cute 5 Little Ducts activities. Make your own duck-filled sensory bottle for your kids to play with as they enjoy the book. They’ll have fun using their different senses to play along as you read a sweet nursery rhyme book.

5 Little Ducks Sensory Bottle:

Supplies needed:

• 16 ounce sensory bottle
• 5 ounce bottle of Elmer’s Clear Glue
• 5 small rubber duck toys
• Blue glass stones/gems
• Water

Instructions:

1. Open the sensory bottle. Pour the whole bottle of glue into the bottle.
2. Add the glass stones and gems to the bottom of the bottle, then place the ducks inside.
3. Fill the bottle with water, leaving a little room at the top empty.
4. Close the lid. Secure the lid with tape or glue, if desired, to ensure the bottle doesn’t leak.
5. Shake the contents of the bottle until all the glue, gems, and ducks move around freely.

Note: You may have bubbles appear shaking the bottle for the first time. Allow the bubbles to settle and disappear after shaking.

5 Little Ducks Preschool Activities

This cute duck craft is the perfect way to have some fun as you read! That’s because this sensory bottle goes along with the story in the popular children’s book, 5 Little Ducks.

In the book, a mother duck patiently awaits Spring, when her five baby ducks – all grown up – return with their new families. Throughout the story, your preschooler will have the chance to practice counting and color recognition, making it a great way to reinforce the concepts they’re learning in school.

Read the book aloud to your kids or watch this YouTube read-along. 

And after you finish reading the story, you can continue the learning process as your little ones make and play with their own sensory bottle. Once the bottle is put together, they can:

• Count the ducks in the bottle as they are reading, moving the bottle around.
• Match the colors in the bottle to the colors in the book.
• Watch the gems sink to the bottom while the ducks float to the top.

Other Activities to Correspond with the 5 Little Ducks Book and Song:

• 5 Little Ducks Storytelling Sensory Tub
• 5 Little Ducks Math Activities
• Printable Preschool Number Line for 5 Little Ducks 
• 5 Little Ducks Printable Pack
• 5 Little Ducks Activities for Kindergarten
• Felt Board for 5 Little Ducks Learning and Play
• 5 Little Ducks Fingerplay
• Count and Circle 5 Little Ducks Craft
• Hands on Fun with the 5 Little Ducklings
• 5 Little Ducks Nursery Rhyme Rocks
• Printable Duck Puppets and Song

You may be interested in these other book related kids activities:

• A Bad Case of Stripes Activities
• Boom Chicka Boom Boom Activities
• Click Clack Moo Cows That Type Activities

One of the simplest forms of sensory play for young children is a sensory bottle. And when you add holiday elements to your bottles, you have the perfect way to celebrate an occasion. This simple Easter sensory bottle features classic holiday elements, allowing your child to celebrate Easter and have a little bit of educational fun at the same time.

Easter Sensory Bottle:

Supplies needed:

• plastic water bottle (Voss bottles or craft store sensory bottle)
• purple glitter
• pastel baby chicks
• mini coloured foam eggs
• pastel sequins
• clear dish soap (Dawn or LemiShine soap are good options because they have a thick consistency)
• optional: Superglue or hot glue to seal the bottle cap 

Instructions:

1. Pour the clear soap into the sensory bottle until it’s around 2/3 of the way full.
2. Add the glitter, baby chicks, foam eggs, and pastel sequins to the bottle.
3. Fill the rest of the container with water.
4. If you plan on gluing the lid to keep the bottle from reopening, add hot or Superglue glue to the inside of the lid, then replace the lid on the bottle. Otherwise, you can simply put the lid back on.

Easter Sensory Bottle Play and Learning Activities

This sensory bottle is perfect for encouraging interactive play with young children. But keep in mind that your child should always be supervised by an adult as they play. Even if the lid is glued to the top of the bottle, it could come off. And since the pieces inside could be a choking hazard, it’s important to keep an eye on your child as they’re playing with their bottle.

Try these play activities to give your kids a chance to use their visual, tactile, and proprioceptive sensory systems as they learn:

• Seek and find. Shake up the Easter sensory bottle and let your child search through the items as they float to find different elements inside. Ask your child what they see and let them point out the different pieces inside the bottle.
• Count the eggs and chicks. As the eggs and chicks float around the bottle, let your child count each item to see how many eggs and chicks are inside.
• Calm a busy mind. The Easter holiday can often cause sensory overload for young kids. Creating this Easter sensory bottle is the perfect way to calm your child when they’re feeling overwhelmed. Simply shake the bottle to mix up the elements inside, then let your child watch the pieces as they float around inside.

Some other Easter sensory activities:

Easter OobleckEaster Fluffy Slime

Nature Inspired Easter Sensory Bin

Eggs and Carrots Sensory Bin

Kids can work on their visual perception while playing with this I Spy Birds Sensory Bottle. It is simple to create at home or for the classroom. This sensory bottle creates opportunity for kids to use their tactile, visual, and proprioceptive sensory systems. Sensory input is an important part of child development and emotional regulation. 

I Spy Birds Sensory Bottle:

Supplies needed:

• • 16.9 oz. bottle (you can use a sensory bottle or Voss type water bottle)
  • white rice
  • funnel
  • bird buttons 
  • optional: hot glue

Directions:

1. Using a funnel, add a small amount of rice to the bottom of the bottle.
2. Place a bird button inside the bottle.
3. Repeat the above steps until all the birds are placed inside the bottle. By layering the rice and birds, you can ensure they won’t all be in the same place. 
4. Fill the remainder of the bottle with rice, but leave some space for the rice to move around. You can empty out rice if you feel the rice doesn’t move enough to allow the animals to be seen.
5. Replace the lid on the bottle.
6. If you want to secure the bottle, you can secure the lid with a hot glue gun.
7. Give the sensory bottle to your child or students to explore.
8. If you want, you can write a list of the birds for them to find.

Allow the child to move and shake the rice around until they find all of the birds. They can even expand the activity by researching what type of birds they are.

This activity would go well with a unit study on birds.

Expanding your study on birds:

• Go for a nature walk to observe birds and listen to their songs.
• Create bird notebooking pages.
• Set out books on birds. 
• Make a bird feeder and watch as birds come to eat.
• Complete some bird worksheets.
• Play the Birds of North America game.

As with all sensory play activities, adult supervision should be used at all times. Even if you have secured the lid with glue, it is still possible to get it open and the bottle contains small parts which are choking hazards for children.

Are you looking for more easy sensory play ideas to make for your child or students? Join us for a five day email series on Sensory Activities and Solutions and get a free sample of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.

Check out some of our other sensory bottles:

Dinosaur Sensory Bottle

Bugs Sensory Bottle

Van Gogh Starry Night Inspired Sensory Bottle

Create an opportunity for kids to explore through play with this I Spy Forest Babies sensory bottle. It’s easy and inexpensive to make and can be used at home or in the classroom.

Kids will use their tactile, visual, and proprioceptive sensory systems. They can also practise counting skills, memory, visual recognition skills, and communication. 

I Spy Forest Animals Sensory Bottle:

Supplies needed:

• • 16.9 oz. bottle (you can use a sensory bottle or Voss type water bottle)
  • white rice
  • funnel
  • forest babies buttons 
  • optional: hot glue

Directions:

1. Using a funnel, add a small amount of rice to the bottom of the bottle.
2. Place a forest baby animal button inside the bottle.
3. Repeat the above steps until all the animals are placed inside the bottle. By layering the rice and animals, they won’t all be in the same place. We included two foxes, a porcupine/hedgehog (hard to tell what it is!), squirrel, owl, and skunk.
4. Fill the remainder of the bottle with rice, but leave some space for the rice to move around. You can empty out rice if you feel the rice doesn’t move enough to allow the animals to be seen.
5. Replace the lid on the bottle.
6. If you want to secure the bottle, you can secure the lid with a hot glue gun.
7. Give the sensory bottle to a child to explore.

Kids can move and shake the rice around to find all of the forest babies in the bottle. You can also give them a cheat sheet so they know what they are looking for.

Ways to expand this activity:

• Have kids draw the animals as they find them.
• Set out books on forest animals.
• Watch a movie like Bambi about animals in the forest. 

As with all sensory play activities, adult supervision should be used at all times. Even if you have secured the lid with glue, it is still possible to get it open and the bottle contains small parts which are choking hazards. 

Are you looking for more easy sensory play ideas to try? Join us for a five day email series on Sensory Activities and Solutions and get a free sample of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.

Check out some of our other sensory bottles:

Astronaut Sensory BottleColour Mixing Sensory Bottle

Alphabet I Spy Sensory Bottle