Where was this idea when my boys were babies? Lacie sent in these instructions and pictures. What a fun gift!
Sensory Bottles are a cheap, easy gift for infants and toddlers. I purchased Voss waters because they look so cool! They are a bit pricey but since I can reuse the bottles I’m ok with it. ( I was able to find them cheapest on sale at Walgreens locally for $1.25 each.)
Drink the water. Then remove the labels and wash. Decide what you want your bottle to be. Obviously for $5 you can’t do a whole color set, but you could do 3 or 4.
I used only items I had on hand for the color ones. Some Items I used: Marker lids, pompoms, q-tips, crayons, colored pencils, buttons, pennies, scraps of paper or fabric, yarn, or ribbon, legos, small plastic animals, straws, plastic utensils, foam shapes, shoe strings, chalk, marbles, anything!
For the Christmas ones I did purchase things to put inside. The red and green rice one is easily made by mixing a capful of rubbing alcohol with a small amount of food coloring and putting it on rice. Mix together (wear rubber gloves or you will have colored hands). Lay out on paper towels in a thin layer stirring occasionally until it dries out. Then put it in the sensory bottle. The colored tinsel can be purchased at a dollar store.
You could do an eye spy one for any age, even older child by putting rice in the bottle with various small items (many of the ones listed above would work) and include a “To Find” List naming all the items you have included). The recipient can turn the bottle to move the rice around and find all the included objects.
You could do different sounds by placing small items that would make different sounds in each one (buttons in one, jingle bells in one, rocks in one, etc.).
The lids CAN be hot glued on to prevent spillage and a choking hazard. I have found that if I tighten them as tight as I can, I can barely get the lids off myself and have yet to see a little one even try to take them off.
This is not an original idea. My inspiration came from pinterest.
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Thank you, Lacie! Everyone be sure to check out all the other Homemade Gifts for Less Than $5 Ideas shared so far. I hope you are all enjoying this series as much as I am. So many wonderful ideas!
We had a woman share a similar idea with us (though it would not work for a gift). It is a sensory/cause and effect pat mat. You put similar items inside a gallon bag, fill with water, and double bag. Rebekah loved patting it and watching the pretty stuff move. She also loved kicking it with her feet! :)