Discovery Bottles

Discovery bottles are simple to make, and can be used for babies up to early elementary schoolers. They can entertain, soothe, and teach. These bottles are especially useful on car trips. You will want to clean the bottle first and remove the label. These bottles are limited only by your imagination, but here are some ieas to get you started:

Find it! Bottle

Use a funnel to fill a bottle about 1/2 full with sand or rice. Then add small objects to the bottle: buttons, buttons, large beads, golf tees, toy jewelry, keys, and small toys, for example. Put the cap back on and secure with duct tape.

Nick loves turning and shaking the bottle to find the objects. For older children, provide lists of items to find, or ask them to find numbers of things or items that begin with a certain letter.

Bubble Bottle

Pour water, dish soap, and a little food coloring in the bottle. Babies and toddlers will have fun shaking it and watching the colored bubbles pile up. I made mine almost a year ago, and it still works!

Alphabet Bottle

Pour corn syrup into the bottle, about a half inch deep. Add alphabet beads. Preschoolers and kindergarteners will have fun finding the letters in their names; older children can make words.

Serenity Bottle

I used this bottle when I taught Kindergarten as a time-out tool. Pour 1/2 inch of corn syrup into bottle and add food coloring (optional). Add items such as glitter, beads, buttons, googly eyes, etc. Secure cap firmly with tape. Little ones will be mesmerized by the slowly-flowing liquid and objects.

Magnet Bottle
Fill a bottle 1/3 full of sand or salt. Add small, metallic objects such as paper clips, fridge magnets, and keys. Secure cap with duct tape. Then tie a strong magnet to the outside of the bottle, and teach little ones how to "fish" for the objects with the magnet.

Color Bottle
Ask for the kids' help on this one! Find small objects all over the house in a certain color to add to a bottle.

Collection Bottle
A wide-mouthed bottle like a Gatorade bottle is best for this one. It is especially well-suited to vacation, but works just as well in your backyard or park. Give the bottle to your child, and have them put in anything that captures their interest: small twigs, stones, seashells, leaves - anything! Later on, ask your child to tell you all about what they found.

Ocean in a Bottle
Fill a bottle halfway with vegetable oil, then top off with water. You can add blue food coloring, if you like. As always, seal cap with duct tape. It is fascinating to watch the waves as you roll the bottle around, and kids love watching the liquids separate again after shaking the bottle. If you have any lightweight, floating objects, they are great to add. I tried adding some tin foil, but it didn't work out - Nick asked me why I added garbage to the bottle!

** If there is a lot of residue from the label, you can try rubbing vegetable oil on the sticky part to remove it.