Easy Sensory Bottles for Toddlers and Preschoolers
These easy sensory bottles use just a few ingredients you probably already have at home, and provide hours of fun for toddlers and preschoolers. Use them to explore your sense of sight for a five senses unit, or as a calm-down bottle.
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There are so many different ways to make your own sensory bottles for your kids at home, but these are the easiest by far. The more you make, the better they will get. You’ll start to see which types of glitter clump, and the proper ratios of oil to water.
And with Pinterest, we now have a plethora of different themes and ideas for various sensory bottles to try!
For our 5 senses homeschool unit, I wanted to make some bottles that are simple and will keep both my preschooler and my toddler entertained. I came across many adorable ideas while searching for the right “recipe,” but ultimately decided to wing it when the time came to set up their open exploration station for the week.
WHILE YOU’RE PLANNING YOUR 5 SENSES THEME:
- Check out my 5 Senses Unit here. (Use code SENSES25 for 25% off) If you join my Preschool Program Membership, you’ll get a major discount on all past Unit Studies, and 2 brand new units included each month!
- Here are 19 Activities & Crafts for your Preschooler’s 5 Senses theme!
- Here’s a list of Books for your 5 Senses Unit Study.
- Check out this Fun 5 Senses Song for Preschoolers
5 Senses Activities & Crafts We’ve Done at the Moore Homestead:
- Sensory Spice Painting
- Texture Collage 5 Senses Process Art Activity
- Salt & Sugar Test Five Senses Activity
- 5 Senses Puppets (Free Printable)
- Jello Dig Sensory Activity
- Taste Test Survey Printable & Activity
- Scratch and Sniff Jello Name Activity
- 5 Senses Sorting Game Printable
- Jello Playdough
- Pickle Science Study
- Rainbow Sensory Noodles
- Pop Rocks Science Study
- Sound Jars Five Senses Activity
- 5 Senses Scavenger Hunt
- 5 Senses Body Parts Match Activity
- Optometrist Dramatic Play for Kids
For tips on planning your homeschool preschool year, check out this article.
Join the Homeschooling Preschoolers Facebook Page! There are free resources available, and it’s the perfect way to connect with other families!
Easy Sensory Bottles for Toddlers & Preschoolers
I ordered these bottles from Amazon because we didn’t have any water bottles or anything to repurpose into sensory bottles, but I highly recommend reusing something else if you can. Voss is a popular brand of water bottles that make for the perfect sensory bottles.
Ingredients for Easy Sensory Bottles:
- Water
- Food coloring
- Baby oil
- Super glue (to glue the lid on)
That’s all you need as the base! From there you can add glitter, pom-poms, trinkets, figurines, and anything else you might have on hand!
In the red sensory bottle, I simply filled the bottle with water and red food coloring, then squirted baby oil on top. Oil and water do not mix, so when you shake the bottle, it makes for a beautiful sight.
I would recommend doing a bit less oil than I did. I had help from my son, so he went a little oil-crazy. That’s okay! It still came out beautiful.
For the green sensory bottle, I added some chunky glitter and dish soap. I read somewhere the dish soap can keep the glitter from clumping together. I also heard to avoid super fine glitter, as it likes to stick to the sides of the sensory bottle instead of floating around inside.
The dish soap actually made for a very interesting, cloudy appearance that makes it almost look like a green galaxy or something. My son loved this one. Sensory bottles with glitter make for great “calm down” bottles, as it can take a couple of minutes for the glitter to all settle at the bottom of the bottle, as opposed to the simple oil and water mixture that separates and settles almost instantly.
For the third bottle, I omitted the glitter and isntead added some sparkly pom-pom balls. This one was my toddler’s favorite! She would focus her eyes on the pom-poms and laugh as they settled. Adorable!
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