Sensory bottles are a fun, mostly visual way to explore sensory play! Wondering how to make your first sensory bottle? Today we are going to explore what to use and how to fill them up! They are really simple to put together and only require a few supplies. 
Like sensory bags, sensory bottles are a great option for infants or toddlers who tend to put objects in their mouths. They can watch and notice how ingredients mix together without the mess. Older kids can be included to put bottles together and explore in a more hands-on way the mixing of ingredients.
Here is how to get started!
Basic supplies needed to create sensory bottles:
- Clear bottles – Use any size that’s easy to grasp ( we love to use VOSS Plastic Bottles
but any will do!)
- Glue – You’ll definitely want to glue on the top!
Be creative when choosing the medium to fill your bottles. The ingredients you use to fill will have different effects on how the other objects move within the bottle!
Ideas for sensory bottle fillers:
- Colored water
- Water and oil
- Dish, hand or bath soap
Additional items to add to sensory bottles:
- Glitter
- Confetti
- Pom Poms
- Beads
- Water beads
- Letters and Numbers
- Animals
- Drinking straws
With a little guidance, sensory bottles can lead to lots of ideas for learning and play. Concepts like color, letter and number recognition can be taught by identifying the objects. Talking about how things looks and the way objects move around is great for language development.
Ideas for play with sensory bottles:
- Sort and learn by color
- Explore color mixing
- Learn about a theme (nature, seasons, concepts)
- Play I Spy
Have fun creating your sensory bottles! They are a beautiful and fun way to explore lots of different types of learning. Be creative and shake it up!
Amy is a former teacher turned stay-at-home mom and writer. She loves sharing what she knows about family, play and early learning. When she’s not at her computer you can find her spending family time, organizing or decorating her home, reading a good self-help book or pretending she knows how to cook but she usually leaves that to her awesome husband!
I totally missed these with my kids (the youngest are 6). Love all the options you’ve laid out here. I’m happily pinning to share with everyone who has littles. Thanks for linking up on #everythingkids