Every week for the next year

I am going to make a sensory bottle

Or a discovery bottle

Esther and William love to make them

For Edie and Bea

They are very easy to make

And have lots of potential

For sensory play

Inspiring awe and wonder

And can be linked to learning topics

Including early reading and maths

We decided to begin with an ocean bottle

As there are lots of different ocean themed bottles

That can be made

This is a lovely Ocean and Waves bottle from The Imagination Tree

Summer Ocean Discovery Bottle from Little Bins For Little Hands

Here is an Ocean in a Bottle from Happy Hooligans

We wanted our first ocean sensory bottle

To be centred around star fish

For our star of the sea

Matilda Mae

For this diy sensory bottle

We used

A Chicken Tonight glass jar

Water

Pink and purple glitter

Vegetable glycerine

Mini plastic beads from Poundland

In the shape of sea stars and dolphins

Toob Safari seashells and star fish

When making sensory jars

I put the dry ingredients in first

And we have a little play at each stage of the process

The beads sound great rattling around the empty glass jar

The glitter falls effortlessly around the beads

Before floating on the glycerine in the water

The sounds are softer once the larger shells are added

There is more to discover and see with each addition

We all enjoy finding new ways to play and explore

These bottles are great for rolling in front of a baby

During tummy time or when encouraging to crawl

They are great for calming down older children

For distracting a toddler from a tantrum

By adding a small amount of glycerine to the water

You slow down the movement of the objects inside

Another tip is to use flakes of glitter

Rather than very fine powder glitter

This is easier to see

And also clumps less if you use oil or colouring in your water

Another thing I have learned about glitter

Is that less is definitely more!

We have had great fun making our first of 52 sensory bottles

We hope that you like it and perhaps you will have a go

At making your own ocean discovery bottle