sensory bottles

I Spy Birds Sensory Bottle

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:

Using a funnel, add a small amount of rice to the bottom of the bottle.
Place a bird button inside the bottle.
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.
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.
Replace the lid on the bottle.
If you want to secure the bottle, you can secure the lid with a hot glue gun.
Give the sensory bottle to your child or students to explore.
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

I Spy Forest Animal Babies Sensory Bottle

By Sharla Kostelyk

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:

Using a funnel, add a small amount of rice to the bottom of the bottle.
Place a forest baby animal button inside the bottle.
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.
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.
Replace the lid on the bottle.
If you want to secure the bottle, you can secure the lid with a hot glue gun.
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.

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 Bottle Colour Mixing Sensory Bottle

Alphabet I Spy Sensory Bottle

Halloween Sensory Bottle

By Sharla Kostelyk

When we think of Halloween, we may think of dark, black, or scary, but the October holiday can also be celebrated with cheerful colours like purple and orange. That’s what I like about this Halloween sensory bottle. This is a simple activity to do in a preschool class or at home. Because the glitter and confetti travel slowly through the glue and water, it makes a great calm down bottle for kids to observe when their emotions get too big.

Halloween Sensory Bottle:

Supplies needed:

1 (16 oz.) plastic bottle
2-3 bottles Elmer’s Glue in clear, 6 oz. each
approximately 1 cup warm water
Halloween foil confetti
orange glitter
orange and purple sequins
plastic aquarium rocks, orange and purple
optional: hot glue
optional: washi tape or duct tape

Directions:

Empty one bottle of clear glue into the plastic bottle.
Fill the empty glue bottle about half full with warm water and seal with the lid. Shake well to combine the remaining glue with the water. Pour into jar with glue and shake to combine.
Add some of the glitter, sequins, and aquarium rocks.
Seal the jar and shake well. If the glitter or confetti do not move easily, add more warm water. If the glitter or confetti move too quickly, add additional glue. Continuing adding in layers of water and glue with the glitter, sequins, and orange and purple rocks until you achieve the desired effect.
When the contents of the bottle move the way you want them to, seal the bottle with the lid.
You can use a hot glue gun to secure the lid in place to avoid spills.
If you want to make the sensory bottle more festive, you can cover the lid with Halloween themed washi tape or glow in the dark duct tape.

Are you looking for more easy sensory play ideas? 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 these other Halloween sensory ideas:

Black Glitter Slime perfect for Halloween

Hallowe’en Sensory Game Spider Emotions Matching Game

Spider Web Slime

Mermaid Tail Sensory Bottle

By Sharla Kostelyk

My girls sometime wish they were mermaids. They all love the water. They even have those full sized mermaid tails that really work! So it’s really no surprise that they love this Mermaid Tail Sensory Bottle.The glitter falls slowly through the glue and water mixture, creating a calm down effect. This sensory bottle also provides tactile, proprioceptive, and visual sensory feedback for kids.

Mermaid Tail Sensory Bottle:

Supplies needed:

empty plastic water bottle (I prefer to use the sensory bottles from craft stores or the Voss brand)
Elmer’s Clear School Glue
warm water
teal and purple glitter
mermaid tail toys
small coloured gems
optional: Superglue or hot glue to seal

Directions:

Pour clear glue to about the halfway point in the empty water bottle.
Fill with warm water almost to the top, replace the lid, and shake well to combine.
Add glitter, a few gems, and the mermaid tail toys into the glue mixture.
Seal the jar and shake well. If the glitter or confetti does not move easily, add more warm water. If the glitter or confetti moves too quickly, add additional glue.
Replace the lid. If you are going to be using with young children, Superglue or use hot glue to secure the lid which will avoid spills and keep this play activity safer.

As with all our sensory activities, adult supervision should always be used. Even if you have glued the lid in place, kids can sometimes get it off and the contents have small parts that could potentially be a choking hazard.

Are you looking for more easy sensory play ideas? 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 these other easy to make sensory bottles:

Pretty Princess Sensory Bottle

Sky Sensory Bottle

Rainbow Rainfall Sensory Bottle

Baseball Mini Sensory Bottle

By Sharla Kostelyk

Lately, we’ve been changing it up a bit with our sensory bottles by making some of them in tiny test tubes. This Baseball Mini Sensory Bottle is one of those.

You can customize the colours of this baseball sensory bottle to show your support for your favourite team! Whether it’s a professional team, collage, or school team, show your team pride. You could even take it with you to cheer on your team at their games.

Baseball Mini Sensory Bottle:

Supplies needed:

mini bottle (we used these plastic test tube treat containers)
clear dish soap
mini baseball beads
red and white tri beads (or choose a colour for your favourite team)
red glitter (or choose the colours of your favourite team!)
black mini elastics (like the Rainbow Loom ones)
optional: hot glue

Directions:

Pour clear dish soap into a mini bottle until it’s about half full.
Drop in some mini baseball beads.
Add in the beads and glitter. Drop in the small elastics.
If there’s any room left in the bottle, fill the the top with water.
Replace the lid. If using with small children, you can secure the lid with hot glue.

With this or any other sensory play activity, adult supervision is recommended. Even with the lid secured, it can be opened by determined kids or when the glue gets old and the bottle contains small parts that could be a choking hazard.

With its tiny size, this mini calm down bottle can be brought anywhere. You can tuck it into the seat pocket of the vehicle, place it inside your child’s backpack, or you can include it in their calm down kit. This adorable mini bottle incorporates both the visual and tactile sensory systems. Because the glitter and beads stay suspended in the dish soap and fall slowly as it is turned or flipped over, this can also serve as a calm down bottle. Children can watch the glitter slowly fall as they focus on regulating their breathing. Are you looking for more easy sensory play ideas to use with kids? Join us for a five day email series on Sensory Activities and Solutions and get a free sample of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.

You may also be interested in these mini sensory bottles:

Football Mini Sensory Bottle

Zoo Animals Mini Sensory Bottle

Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Sensory Bottle

By Sharla Kostelyk

In case, my matching Minnie purse and wallet weren’t evidence enough, I’m a big Disney fan. I’m especially partial to Mr. and Mrs. Mouse! That is the inspiration behind this Mickey and Minnie Sensory Bottle.

If you’re also a Disney fan, you’re going to love this adorable sensory tool. It’s easy to make yourself. In the same spirit as our Minnie Mouse Slime, you can bring a bit of that Disney magic right into your own home.

If you’re hosting a Mickey Mouse themed birthday party, these would make adorable party favours for your guests to make and then take home.

Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Sensory Bottle:

Supplies needed:

empty water bottle (I prefer the look of Voss bottles or craft store sensory bottles)
clear dish soap (Dawn or LemiShine are good because they are thicker)
Mickey Mouse buttons
Minnie Mouse buttons
white tri beads
black tiny elastics (the Rainbow Loom type)
gold glitter
optional: Superglue or hot glue to seal the bottle cap

Directions:

Pour clear dish soap into the container until it’s 2/3 full.
Add the glitter, beads, mini elastics, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse buttons.
Fill the remaining space with water.
Replace the lid. If you’re going to be using this jar with younger kids, then I highly recommend that you Superglue the lid in place and allow the glue to dry before giving it to your child to play with. You can instead secure it with hot glue.

As with all sensory activities, adult supervision should be used at all times. Even if you have glued the lid in place, it can come undone and the small parts inside are potential choking hazards.

Sensory and Learning Opportunities:

While the main sensory system targeted with sensory bottles is the Visual system, children also engage their tactile and proprioceptive sensory systems when interacting with this activity.

This activity presents many math opportunities. Kids can compare if there are more Mickeys than Minnies or vice versa or if there are an equal amount. They can count the number of characters inside or the number of one specific character. They can also guess how many white beads there are by counting them in one section and then multiplying that by the number of same size sections there are.

Thanks to the slow falling movement, this can also serve as a calm down jar, helping kids regulate their breathing and behaviour.

Are you looking for more easy sensory play ideas? 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 other sensory bottles:

Insect Sensory Bottle

Lego Sensory Bottle