sensory bottles

We have been enjoying our sensory bottle creations and it is always fun to come up with new themes and ideas for them. I was inspired to make this sky sensory bottle after making our sky sensory bin and wanting to use the adorable parachute glider that was in the In the Sky toob I used to make that sensory bin.

After I made this sensory bottle, I was trying to take pictures of it inside where I normally take photos and my daughter Granola Girl insisted that Sky sensory bottles needed to be played with (and therefore photographed) outside! Granola Girl loves to be barefoot, loves to be outside and feel the grass between her toes. I never think to bring our sensory activities outdoors so it’s nice to have her to remind me to expand my way of thinking.

She was absolutely right about the sky sensory bottle belonging in the great outdoors! She practised her hand modelling skills while I took the pictures and then she ran off to explore with the sensory bottle, holding it up to the sky to see what it looked like with the sun shining through it. I’m so glad she has such a free spirit and reminds me of the beauty in simple things.

Sky Sensory Bottle:

Materials needed:

• empty water bottle (I used a Voss water bottle)
• 350 mL (12 oz.) bottle of blue hair gel
• In the Sky Toob

VOSS Water Plastic BottlesSafari Ltd In The Sky TOOB by Safari

Empty the water from the water bottle and then squirt some gel into the bottle and add an item from the In the Sky Toob. Continue to layer gel and items from the tube so that the items suspend in the blue “sky”.

Add the lid and your sky 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 recommended.

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.

Take Flight with a Sky Sensory Bin

This Fall Sensory Bottle is lovely for discovery of the season and can be used as a calm down bottle as well. Kids will love watching the falling leaves (no pun intended!) and shiny sequins.

Materials needed:

• large empty water bottle (I used a Voss water bottle because I like the look and size of them)
• plastic autumn leaves
• leaf shaped confetti
• sequins in autumn colours
• glitter

Place the plastic fall coloured leaves, leaf shaped confetti and glitter in an empty water bottle. Fill with water and replace the lid. If you’ll be using this fall sensory bottle with younger children, you may want to secure the lid with hot glue so that they won’t be able to open it.

The colours in this sensory bottle are lovely. When I added the water to mine, the plastic leaves’ colour bled just slightly making the water a hint of a fall orangey-red colour.

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

Spring Sensory Bottle

I like googly eyes. I blame my friend Christie. She thinks that everything is better with googly eyes and puts them on random things like plants all over her house. It’s funny and cute and it’s apparently rubbed off on me because now I buy googly eyes and use them for strange things like this monster sensory bottle.

Materials needed:

• water bottle (I used a small Voss bottle)
• green hand sanitizer
• different sizes and colours of googly eyes
• googly eye finger puppets

To make this monster sensory bottle, pour hand sanitizer to almost the very top of an empty water bottle. Next, add the googly eyes and the googly eye finger puppets. Note that you will have to straighten the finger puppets to get them through the small opening at the top of the water bottle. Once they are pushed through, they will go back to their proper shape.

If you want to make this sensory bottle even more fun for children to play with, give them some foam stickers to add to the outside of the bottle to personalize their “monster”.

I like the large googly eyes myself, but my kids seemed to prefer the eyes in different colours. This is a very simple and inexpensive sensory bottle to make. Kids can explore different sizes and colours while playing with this monster discovery bottle.

Join our free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get our Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.
If you are looking for other monster ideas, you may also want to check out our Monster Sensory Bin or our Eyeball Sensory Bin.

I find inspiration for sensory activities at the strangest places. Looking through my cupboards, standing in line at the grocery store glancing at magazine covers, walking the aisles of the craft or dollar or hardware store, or even being outside can lead to an idea. They don’t always work out the way I envision they will, but this spring sensory bottle came together nicely.

Spring Sensory Bottle:

I love the fresh colours of spring. That and a package of cute buttons were the inspiration behind this discovery bottle.

Materials needed:

• water bottle (I used a small Voss bottle)
• 147 mL (5 oz.) bottle clear school glue
• pink glitter
• small ladybug, caterpillar, butterfly, and flower buttons
• small gel flowers
• butterfly Toob

To make this spring sensory bottle, pour the bottle of glue into an empty water bottle. Add warm water to almost the top of the bottle, put the lid on and shake well to mix. I added a bottle and a half of glue but it was a bit too much glue and the glitter stuck together, so I would recommend using only one bottle of glue.

Safari Ltd Butterflies TOOBVOSS Water Plastic BottlesElmer’s Clear Glue

Once the water and glue are well mixed, take the lid off and add the glitter. Drop the small buttons and flowers into the bottle. The butterflies from the butterfly Toob are a bit too big to fit but if you bend the wings in, they go in easily and then their wings will open when they are past the smaller opening of the bottle.

Twist the lid back on and give the bottle a shake. The items and glitter will fall slowly because of the glue in the bottle which makes it a good calm down bottle.

If you have little ones and are worried about the small parts being a choking hazard, you can secure the lid 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.

Ocean Sensory Bottle

Rainbow Rainfall Sensory Bottle

This Rainbow Rainfall Sensory Bottle costs very little to make and is so colourful. There is something cheerful about it. It also has an auditory sensory element to it with the beads falling in between the pieces of straw, creating a rainfall effect.

Rainbow Rainfall Sensory Bottle:

I was inspired to make this sensory bottle because of the cheerful colours of the plastic straws we had in the cupboard. All of the materials I used were ones we already had in the house which makes for a very inexpensive project.

Materials needed:

• water bottle (I used a Voss bottle)
• scissors
• rainbow coloured plastic straws
• small multi-coloured beads

VOSS Water BottleAssorted Bright Colors StrawsPony Bead Multicolor

To create this rainbow rainfall discovery bottle, cut the coloured straws with scissors and add them into the empty water bottle haphazardly. Don’t add all of one colour and then all of another colour unless you want to create a layered look because once they are in there, they won’t mix very much.

About halfway through adding your straw bits, you can add a few of the small beads and once your bottle is almost full of the straw pieces, you can add more of the beads and top with another few plastic straw pieces to finish off before putting the lid back on.

If you leave enough space at the top, the beads and straws will create a rainfall effect when the discovery bottle is tipped upside down.

Please note: The beads can create a choking hazard for young children, so supervision is recommended or you can use a hot glue gun to secure the lid in place.

If you are looking for other sensory ideas, 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.

Weighted Space Sensory Bottle

Ocean Sensory Bottle

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 Sensory Bottle:

Materials needed:

• water bottle (I used a small Voss bottle)
• blue body wash (I used Softsoap Citrus Splash & Berry Fusion Body Wash)
• sea glass
• glass beads
• Good Luck Minis glow-in-the-dark pufferfish, jellyfish and starfish
• seashells

VOSS Water BottleSoftsoap Body Wash Citrus Splash & Berry FusionGood 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.

By 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.

Looking 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.

Weighted Space Sensory Bottle