Sensory bottles are such a great tool to have in any classroom! Whether you teach toddlers, preschool, kindergarten, or elementary, you are going to encounter kiddos who need time and space to self-regulate and calm down! These for sensory bottles can help them do just that, and they are super easy to make! For me, the easiest way to do this was to gather everything I needed and do them all at once. But, if you really want to be efficient, get some fellow teacher friends who also want to make a set and share the materials! It will save you some money and it will be WAY more fun than making them by yourself!
What You Need
Here’s everything you will need to make these four sensory bottles! If you’re like me and do all of your shopping online, just click anything on the list to go straight to Amazon to order it!
- Voss water bottles
- corn syrup
- pony beads
- water
- glitter
- chenille stems
- magnet wands
- baby oil
- food coloring
- hot glue gun
- hot glue sticks
Peel the labels off all of the water bottles, and you’re ready to get started!
Ocean in a Bottle
- Fill the bottle half way full with baby oil.
- Add blue food coloring to a cup of water until it is as dark as you’d like it to be.
- Add the blue water to the bottle until the bottle is full.
- Put hot glue inside the lid.
- Twist the lid on tight.
- Let the glue cool and dry overnight before you use the bottle!
Optional: Add small plastic boats or fish before you seal the bottle!
Glitter Bottle
- Choose 2-3 colors of glitter. (You can use more, but I like to pick a color scheme and stick with it!)
- Add each color of glitter to the bottom of the empty bottle until there’s about 1/4″ in it.
- Slowly add water until the bottle is almost full.
- Put the the lid on the bottle (no hot glue yet!) and test it out.
- Adjust the amount of glitter in the bottle to your own preferences.
- Put hot glue inside the lid.
- Twist the lid on tight.
- Let the glue cool and dry overnight before you use the bottle!
Optional: Add a few pieces of shaped confetti with the glitter!
Magnetic Bottle
- Choose 4-5 chenille stems you want to use. (Again, I like color schemes, so I choose chenille stems that match the glitter!)
- Cut them into pieces that are about 2″ long.
- Add them to the bottle.
- Put hot glue inside the lid.
- Twist the lid on tight.
- Let the glue cool and dry overnight before you use the bottle!
- Add a magnet wand with the bottle when you put it out for use.
Optional: Add additional small items that a magnet will attract!
Floating Beads
- Choose 2-3 colors of pony beads. (See above about my OCD tendencies with colors!)
- Add enough beads to the bottle fill about 2″ of it.
- Fill the rest of the bottle with clear corn syrup.
- Put hot glue inside the lid.
- Twist the lid on tight.
- Let the glue cool and dry overnight before you use the bottle!
Optional: Add some beads that are shaped like stars, hearts, etc.!
Helpful Hints
Here are some tips that I wish I would’ve known before setting out on my first sensory bottle DIY adventure!
- Decide on your color scheme BEFORE you buy anything! If you know what you want to use, you can make sure you have enough of the right colors!
- Do NOT give sensory bottles to your kiddos unless the lids are glued down!
- Test out your bottle BEFORE you glue the lids down!
- Only put the hot glue on the part of the lid that the bottle will actually screw into. Otherwise, the hot glue will drip down into the bottle.
- If at first you don’t succeed, just try again! It took me a couple of attempts to get each bottle the way I wanted it.
- Teach your kiddos how they are supposed to use the bottles and let them practice using the bottle before you just turn them loose. If you don’t give them clear expectations, you will not like the ways they come up with to use these bottles!
I certainly hope that’s helpful to you! I’d love to hear about your sensory bottle ideas! Drop me a comment to let me know your favorites! You might also want to check out my circle time games and busy boxes! Here are a couple posts that will get you started:
Or, if you want to straight to my Teachers Pay Teachers store to start getting your own sets of circle time games and busy boxes, just use these links to get there!
Mrs. A’s Room Circle Time Games
Mrs. A’s Room Busy Boxes