DIY Calming Glitter Bottle
Alternate Ingredients to Clear Glue.
Water – Almost anything! Just don’t add magnets or anything metallic to this one or else it will rust.
Coloured Water – Just add some liquid watercolour or food colouring.
Tonic Water – This will make it glow when it is under blue light
Mineral Oil – This will slightly slow down whatever you have in your bottle. Items such as glitter will slow down a bit more. Mineral oil is also my “go to” solution for magnets and metallic items.
Baby Oil – This is mostly scented mineral oil.
Liquid Soap – A nice slowing component.
Shampoo – This also slows the flow of objects.
Glycerine– Glycerine will slow down things such as glitter slightly.
Corn Syrup – Corn syrup will slow objects down quite a bit. Make sure your objects are super clean!
Hair Gel – Hair gel is great for when you are adding larger objects and will keep them suspended.
Ideas To Put In Your Bottle
Magnets – Always use these with oil bottles, otherwise the magnets will rust.
Fine Glitter – Great in nearly every bottle.
Feathers
Poly-Pellets Weighted Stuffing Beads
Confetti — confetti comes in all different shapes sizes and colours. I love coating confetti in oil and then placing them in my glitter bottles as the oil makes them rise whilst the rest of the glitter sinks.
Acrylics – are great in a peak a boo bottle
Sand
Alphabet Beads – There are so many types to choose from!
TOOB Animal Sets– These are awesome, especially in some hair gel. Plus there are so many varieties of animals to choose from.
Google Eyes
Loom bands
Nature — I love these ideas from Lemon Lime Adventures.
Mini Erasers – The dollar spot at kmart is a gold mine for these.
Legos
Perler Beads — I love how Teaching Mama used them in her Slow-Falling Beads Sensory Bottle.
Pony Beads – Fun at Home with Kids has an amazing pony bead discovery bottle.
Pipe Cleaners or Chenille stems – These are magnetic so you can put a magnet on the side of the bottle to attract them.
Beads – Nearly any bead looks great! Check out this idea from Stay at Home Educator.
Marbles — This Inside Out Emotions Discovery bottle from Lalymom uses marbles in a brilliant way!
Buttons
Pom poms
Holiday accents
Sequins
Shredded paper
Scented items – I love scented sensory bottles. Check out the ones from Things to Share and Remember.
Small toys
Dried Foods
Pasta
Rice
Beans
Split Peas — there a great example from Sugar Aunts.
Dry Candy – I love the conversation heart bottle from Sunny Day Family and the fall pumpkin one from Modern Preschool.
Peekaboo Sensory Bottle
A “peekaboo” sensory bottle can provide visual and tactile input. It may also help your child stay focused better.
You can make this bottle with rice that has been dyed with food coloring (search online for a recipe) or with colored play sand.
Put a funnel in the mouth of an empty water bottle and fill it about halfway with sand or rice. Add small toys, like alphabet beads, LEGO blocks or mini-erasers.
Then, fill the rest of the bottle with sand or rice, leaving about an inch of room at the top. This gives the contents room to move around and get mixed up. Shake the bottle and then secure the lid with superglue.
Kids who are sensory-seekers may benefit from heavy work activity using the bottle. The weight of it can soothe them as they tur it around searching for specific letters or objects.
You can even make a list of the toys in the bottle. Kids can use it to see if they can find all the items.
