Sensory bottles

**Chell** · 02-07-2010, 10:24 AM

Can you give me some ideas what to put into plastic bottles to make little sensory bottles. I've got things like lentils, pasta, etc but thought you lot might be able to help brain storm some ideas.

**jaytravis** · 02-07-2010, 10:28 AM

glitter and sequins , water wth glitter, shredded shiny paper glitter and dry pasta

i had some a few years ago but cant rember what i had in them x

**PixiePetal** · 02-07-2010, 10:33 AM

mine like the water/veg oil/bit of food colouring one - it mixes and separates when it is moved or shaken.

water with glitter - I have iridescent glitter 'snow' in one which is pretty.

shells

coins - I had a load of old/foreign ones I had no use for!

red things or any other colour - pom poms/sequins/ribbons/buttons

a mixture of buttons

some silent ones - ribbons or lightly scrumpled tissue paper

out of date cake decorations - 100s and 1000s - knew there would be a use for the things I found at the back of my kitchen cupboard last week when I sorted it

screws/nails/nuts and washers - all things shiny

And glue the lids on TIGHT!!

Pipsqueak · 02-07-2010, 10:36 AM

how about layering different colour sands or pebbles in

use oil to 'float' things in

how about stuffing in cotton wool and using smells - so they can open them and smell whats in there - obviously these would have to be closely supervised

**Chell** · 02-07-2010, 10:40 AM

Thanks, keep the ideas coming. I've just thought, my bottles are quite wide so old keys would fit inside.

How much oil do you need to use? I tried before with Asda food colouring, water and oil but it went a disqusting colour. It might have been the colouring, the Asda stuff doesn't work in play dough.

**funfunfun** · 02-07-2010, 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by PixiePetal

mine like the water/veg oil/bit of food colouring one - it mixes and separates when it is moved or shaken.

water with glitter - I have iridescent glitter 'snow' in one which is pretty.

shells

coins - I had a load of old/foreign ones I had no use for!

red things or any other colour - pom poms/sequins/ribbons/buttons

a mixture of buttons

some silent ones - ribbons or lightly scrumpled tissue paper

out of date cake decorations - 100s and 1000s - knew there would be a use for the things I found at the back of my kitchen cupboard last week when I sorted it

screws/nails/nuts and washers - all things shiny

And glue the lids on TIGHT!!

I like this

may have to pinch those ideas ...............how does the oil /water work please ?

**It's a small world** · 02-07-2010, 10:53 AM

*baby oil /water/food colouring - gives a kind of lava lamp effect
*confetti and water
*shells
*stones
*cotton wool with essence on ie - lavender etc (smelling bottles)
*things that are magnetic
*for little ones Lego pieces ( things they're not allowed to touch - make sure
bottles secure but allows them to look at them)
*Spiders and bugs in water so they float (basically anything around a theme
you are doing)
* water and food colouring
* multicoloured rice
* need a big bottle for this- place a button, plastic spider/bug, coins, nuts, Lego piece, stone, small car etc then fill with sand and get children to find the items . Have a piece of paper with the a picture of object and then tick it off when found. This is really for the older ones.
*pasta
* shiny tinsel in water
* numbers again tick them when you see them

hope this gives a few ideas

ALWAYS MAKE SURE BOTTLES SECURE - insure you will

**PRINCESSDAISYFLOWER** · 02-07-2010, 11:40 AM

poms poms in water is a firm favourite here

**sillysausage** · 02-07-2010, 12:54 PM

The first time I used vegetable oil/water to make a sensory bottle I found that the oil went cloudy after a month or so. Since then i've used baby oil instead with no problems. I usually add colour to the water so I've got a selection of bottles that are 1/2 babyoil 1/2 water coloured red, blue, yellow and green.

I've also got ones with feathers, rice, sugar, lentils, dried chick peas and marbles in. They all make slightly different sounds though I have found that with repeated banging the marbles are starting to chip and break inside the bottle.

My next ones were going to be colour bottles with lots of small objects all in one colour, eg beads, confetti, small toys, lego etc

**suzyblue** · 02-07-2010, 03:47 PM

Thats all Great! Im off to get some bottles!!!

**miffy** · 02-07-2010, 07:11 PM

There are some more ideas on this thread

http://childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/...ensory+bottles

Miffy xx

**joshie** · 02-07-2010, 07:18 PM

Bright coloured shampoos with plastic beady things in - obviously superglued shut

makes beads move slowly through the shampoo and bright colours grab attention too

**TammyN** · 02-07-2010, 07:23 PM

feathers !!!

**Chell** · 02-07-2010, 08:26 PM

Thanks everyone. In Asda cafe they sell small bottles of fresh orange juice. They are in really strong bottles so I've been saving those. Need to get some more now I've got so many ideas. The ones I do have are very well played with.

How do you colour the rice?

**louni** · 02-07-2010, 08:38 PM

To colour the rice all you do is put the rice into a container and add the food colouring, stir well to ensure the colour is evenly mixed and then spread out and leave to dry. It holds its colour really well.
The asda colouring is a natural food colouring so the colours aren't as bright as the good old artificial ones

I have ones with feathers, hama beads, popping corn kernels, coloured wooden matchsticks, polystyrene balls which are great as they jump around the bottle when rubbed due to static. I also have a liquid one but instead of oil I use glycerine with the water (you can buy it cheaply at any chemist)
Have fun!

**angeldelight** · 02-07-2010, 09:00 PM

Some nice ideas here

http://www.childcarelounge.com/Careg...vitybottle.htm

Angel xx

**Chell** · 02-07-2010, 09:08 PM

Originally Posted by louni

To colour the rice all you do is put the rice into a container and add the food colouring, stir well to ensure the colour is evenly mixed and then spread out and leave to dry. It holds its colour really well.
The asda colouring is a natural food colouring so the colours aren't as bright as the good old artificial ones

I have ones with feathers, hama beads, popping corn kernels, coloured wooden matchsticks, polystyrene balls which are great as they jump around the bottle when rubbed due to static. I also have a liquid one but instead of oil I use glycerine with the water (you can buy it cheaply at any chemist)
Have fun!

Thanks, I never thought of food colouring, I was wondering about painting rice but thought it might stick together.

My DD has aquabeads that she never plays with, they might be sticky like the polystyrene.

jumpinjen · 03-07-2010, 06:14 AM

Originally Posted by angeldelight

Some nice ideas here

http://www.childcarelounge.com/Careg...vitybottle.htm

Angel xx

Really love some of these ideas..... I buy a 12 pack of small botlles of lemonade from asda when i want to make sensory bottles, they are just the right size!! (i don't give the children the lemonade though!!) One of my little mindees was fascinated by the 'disappearing milk' in the baby doll's bottle last week so a few gloopy shampoo sensory bottles will be just the thing next week!

thanks everyone!

jenni