DIY sensory bottles are a fantastic toy and activity for both babies and toddlers.
Since becoming a mummy of two, I want to use my time efficiently and search for activities that could benefit both my nearly 3 year old and my 3 month old.
DIY sensory bottles are super simple to make which can get our toddlers involved in the making too which they will love!
At the age of around 2-3 years old, our toddlers love getting involved with tasks that mummy is doing.
In my case my little girl felt very proud of herself that she was making such a cool toy for her little brother (and herself) to enjoy.
Benefits of DIY sensory bottles:
Calming
In the craziness of our day to day lives sensory bottles are a fantastic way of allowing our babies and toddlers to have a relaxing moment whilst watching and listening to the contents of our DIY sensory bottles.
Little ones, especially toddlers, find it difficult to sometimes regulate and understand their emotions therefore leading to many tears.
For those mummies out there who have already previously gone through the toddler stage you will understand immediately what I am talking about.
The DIY sensory bottles are perfect for giving to our toddlers in those sticky moments and they will help to regulate breathing and calm down/ relax again.
Sensory Play
Our babies and toddlers can use many of their senses to manipulate their new DIY sensory bottles.
They can move the bottles around with their hands by twisting, shaking, reversing and squeezing so they can see the different movements of the contents inside.
They can also hear the sounds that the sensory bottle makes again depending on the content inside.
Tummy Time For Babies
I have found this a great tool for helping my three month old with tummy time.
I simply place the sensory bottle lay down on the play mat and my baby will try to reach the bottle and take a look inside.
This is great for building our babies strength and encouraging them to stay on their tummies for longer.
Making DIY Sensory Bottles:
- If you are all for the aesthetically pleasing sensory bottles then it is best using the Voss water bottles.
However you could also use other branded transparent plastic water bottles.
Even better, find a collection of slightly different shapes and sizes to vary each DIY sensory bottle that you create.
- The bottle lids can be super glued down to prevent any accidents and spillages because let’s face it, our toddlers are capable of many things!
You can however make this decision yourself if your bottles are for babies who are yet able to potentially open bottles.
You may like to reuse the bottle for another future DIY sensory bottle idea.
Ideas for DIY Sensory Bottles:
Glitter and pom poms
This sensory bottle took not even a couple of minutes to make but has been a big hit with my big and little one.
Nothing gave me greater satisfaction when I saw my nearly 3 year old sitting on the sofa swaying the sensory bottle backwards and forwards.
She loved the movements of the swaying water, the glitter mixed within and the pom poms bobbing through the ‘waves’ inside the bottle.
This definitely gave her a sense of calm and she loved showing her baby brother too.
Rainbow Rice
Check out our Rainbow Rice article which can be used over and over again for many activities.
We have re-used our rainbow rice so many times for fine motor skills activities and inside our sensory tables.
The rainbow rice can also be used as a sensory bottle too for our kiddies.
They will love the various noises that the rice makes as it moves around the bottle, along with the movements of the different rice colours.
Why not double one of these DIY sensory bottles up as a musical instrument during at home band practise?!
Dried Pasta
Similar to the rainbow rice but without the preparation of the various colours.
Dried pasta is super fast solution for a DIY sensory bottle and works perfectly to create different noises when shaking.
This a fantastic fine motor activity and pincer grasp activity for toddlers too if you allow them to insert the pasta into the bottle themselves.
Check out our Fine Motor Skills Activities and Pincer Grasp Activities articles for other great ideas for our little ones.
Themed
We all love anything themed so we might as well add our DIY sensory bottles to the collection.
Ideas could be;
- Sea Life; Colour the water blue and add some little sea life creatures to see them swimming around in your underwater sensory bottle.
- Festivities ; Special days such as Valentines Day, Easter, Christmas can give you inspiration for using different colours, materials and objects.
Here are some of my favourite DIY Sensory Bottles I have found online:
Color Mixing Sensory Bottles
Photo Credit: Preschool Inspirations
Not only do the sensory bottles have wonderful colours but they are perfect for learning about colour mixing and also a little science experiment thrown in there too!
Ocean Sensory Bottle
Photo Credit: The Chaos And The Clutter
The calming ocean theme shows the ‘waves’ moving from side to side when the bottle is swayed.
I Spy Sensory Bottle
Photo Credit: Hilary’s Home Daycare
LOVE this twist on the regular rainbow rice DIY sensory bottles that I described above!
Place small, various items inside the mix and get your toddlers to move the bottle around to find them.
This is a great idea for travelling to keep our toddlers occupied.
Seasons Sensory Bottle
Photo Credit: Mama Papa Buba
The variety of objects used inside the bottles are great for both babies and toddlers.
Our older little helpers can help collect some of the objects needed that they see outdoors.
A fabulous way of teaching about the seasons in a fun, alternative way!
