Sensory bottles are all the rave for anxiety-prone learners and inquisitive little minds. Not only are they a fun craft, but they’re also an effective learning tool. Sensory jars have been proven to help develop strong nerve connections in the brain, promote motor skills development and encourage problem-solving. Below you’ll find a host of 25 thrilling ideas to help inspire your children to put together their very own sensory bottle!
1. Discover The Beach
All you need to make your portable beach come to life are shells, a see-through water bottle, shells, sand, blue food coloring, water, and glitter. Combine it all and you have a fun relaxation bottle!
Learn More: Little Bins For Little Hands
2. Minion Madness
Fans of the famed Despicable Me movie and energetic minion characters will adore making this one-eyed creation. It’s an awesome craft for young children and can even be turned into an activity at a birthday party!
Learn More: Little Bins For Little Hands
3. Reach For The Stars
Inspire your little ones to dream big whilst making these awesome discovery bottles! Van Gogh’s Starry Night is the only thing that measures up to its beauty. By combining silver stars and an assortment of colored glitters in blue-colored water in a plastic bottle, your kids can take their dreams just about anywhere!
Learn More: Kids Activities
4. Magnetic Field
Science meets art in this fantastic magnetic field sensory bottle. In order to bring this bottle to life, you’ll need a magnetic ink printer cartridge, an empty water bottle, and water. Follow the instructions to bring your very own calm-down jar to life.
Learn More: Left Brain Craft Brain
5. Glow In The Dark
Light the night with this glow-in-the-dark sensory bottle. What lights this bottle up is an assortment of glow beads and ceiling stars. When combined with glitter, opaque dish soap, sequins, and water, your kids will have a night light like never before.
Learn More: The Chaos And The Clutter
6. Batman Bottle
Anxious children will benefit from this inspiring Batman bottle. Not only is it an opportunity to get crafty, but their creation carries a good reminder. It will remind them to be brave in times when they feel as though the world could open up and swallow them whole.
Learn More: Growing Hands On Kids
7. Water Bead Bottles
These rainbow-themed bottles for babies are great for enhancing sensory awareness. Sensory play enhances a child’s perception of the world around them and helps to develop better responses to a host of stimuli. We’d recommend gluing these bottles shut for the safety of your baby at play.
Learn More: Living Montessori Now
8. Buttons Galore
This button bottle is great for stimulating older children. It can even be used as a fun sensory bottle activity whereby children can guess how many buttons are inside! All you need to put this bottle together are an assortment of buttons and a clear bottle.
Learn More: Keep Calm And Mommy On
9. Riced Up
This bottle both looks and sounds amazing! Toddlers are sure to enjoy shaking it about and hearing the swoosh of the rice inside whilst seeing the brightly colored bobbles sway from one side to the other. The contents can also be poured into a Tupperware for kids to further explore.
Learn More: Mama Instincts
10. Shark Sightings
Calling all ocean lovers! This one’s for you. Keep your child calm whilst giving them an opportunity to put together something creative. You’ll need a bottle, toy sharks, sequins and glitter, small rubber bands, dish soap, and water.
Learn More: The Chaos And The Clutter
11. Zoology Bottles
Time in nature can soothe just about anyone and has a host of other benefits too! We invite your little ones to enjoy some time in the sun whilst collecting natural elements for their zoology sensory bottles. These creations are fantastic for sparking conversations about ecosystems and how we can look after them.
Learn More: The Kavanaugh Report
12. Baby Sensory Bottles
These bottles represent a wonderful time just waiting to happen! Parents are invited to fill bottles with a host of bits & bobs for their young ones to explore. These can anything from buttons, pipe cleaners, pom poms, and more!
Learn More: The Imagination Tree
13. Color Changing Sensory Bottle
This time favorite science experiment isn’t ready to be put to bed yet. Spice it up by adding the special liquid to a bottle in order to enjoy it over a longer time frame. Make your color-changing sensory bottle today!
Learn More: Preschool Inspirations
14. 4th Of July
This is a great craft for kindergarten teachers to work into their lesson plan just before the annual celebration on the 4th of July celebrations. It’s a time for fun but can also create an opportunity to discuss why this date is commemorated yearly.
Learn More: Teaching Mama
15. I-Spy
This time favorite game has been given a facelift! Throw an assortment of small toys into a bottle with rice. It’s the perfect craft for siblings to make together before going on a road trip. It will keep your kiddies occupied whilst on the road whilst also providing their brain with an opportunity to stay active!
Learn More: Dabbles And Babbles
16. Rainbow Scenes
This sensory bottle is joy encapsulated! You’ll need blue sprinkles to represent the sky, cotton balls for clouds, and multicolored ribbon strips for rainbows. These bottles are guaranteed to be a hit with children of all ages!
Learn More: Kids Craft Room
17. Lava Lamp
All you’ll need are a few household items for this craft and it’s sure to soon become one of your toddler’s favorite items! Get them involved in making a portable lava lamp- colored using their favorite color. You’ll simply need food coloring, cooking oil, a bottle, and water.
Learn More: Kid ADL
18. Christmas Creation
Sensory bottles are so easy to change up throughout the year and these are just perfect for Christmas. You can use a host of ribbons, paper, bells, beads, and glitter to help you bring your sensory bottle to life.
Learn More: Fireflies And Mudpies
19. Be My Valentine
These Valentines-themed calming bottles can be filled with glitter, beads, and pom-poms or even turned into an edible jar by using sprinkles and sweets. The sweet-filled jar acts as an awesome shaker bottle and can even be used as a unique instrument- that is until all the sweets have been eaten!
Learn More: Pocket Of Preschool
20. Spook Me
These spooky bottle ideas are fitting creations for the month of Halloween. Encourage your kids to get creative and fill their jars with anything from spiders and witches to ghosts or bats!
Learn More: The Soccer Mom Blog
21. Easter Surprise
Seasonal bottles such as these sensory jars are loved by little ones. Make the magic of Easter come alive by adding plastic eggs, colorful straws, cotton balls, and bunny toys to a jar to make a variety of cool bottles.
Learn More: Fun A Day
22. Let It Snow
Let it snow by using a bulb-shaped bottle, water, glitter, shiny pompoms, confetti, and beads. This frozen-inspired chill-out bottle sure helps to bring a moment of peace to anxious children and is absolutely beautiful to look at!
Learn More: The Best Ideas For Kids
23. Butterflies In A Bottle
Butterflies come alive as they float through a glittery sky! This colorful bottle is a great craft for young ones who are getting to grips with their counting skills. Parents can task their young ones with counting out how many butterflies of each color are floating around the bottle.
Learn More: Rhythms Of Play
24. Get To Grips With The Alphabet
Practicing your ABCs has never been this fun! The letters of the alphabet can be laid out for kids to name and add to the jar before combining glitter and water – creating a sensory wonderland that inspires learning!
Learn More: Parenting Chaos
25. Intergalactic Adventure
We welcome you aboard for an intergalactic adventure. By combining baby oil, water, and food coloring in a jar, you’ll have your own little galaxy in a bottle!
Learn More: Lemon Lime Adventures
30 Charming Books for Dads with Daughters