How to Make a Sensory Bottle
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon.
Have you ever made a sensory bottle for your little one? We made some last January and my kids still love playing with them. If you’re new to sensory bottles, we’ll start with the basics.
What is a Sensory Bottle?
It is a water bottle filled with materials that create a fun sensory experience for babies and toddlers. Little ones can shake the bottle to make the objects move around. Then they can discover what’s inside the bottle by using their sense of sight. You can even play the game I-Spy with them when you introduce the bottle to them.
What materials should I use?
You can use anything from popcorn kernels, feathers, beads, glitter, to water beads. I’ve used Voss Water Bottles
 and this time I used tall water bottles from HyVee (a local grocery store).  To see some awesome ideas, check out this post!
For the bottles we made, I used these items:
- glitter
- buttons
- sequins
- beads
- crayons (with the wrapper removed)
- colored googly eyes
I also used glue to seal the lids on. I don’t want these bottles opening up!
As you can see, I made 5 bottles with color schemes. I thought this would be a good opportunity for my toddler to work on his colors.
When you shake the bottles up, they look like this…
It’s hard to get a good picture of what they look like when you are shaking them, but you can see what it’s like. It would be a good calming activity for a worked-up toddler.
After letting the bottles rest, we saw that some glitter rise to the top and some stayed on the bottom. This was a good activity for my little one to learn how some items float and other sink in water.
To store them, I put them in a plastic bin. In the future, I’d like to display them on a shelf in our toy room. I’ll put that on my to-do list! 🙂
To find out how to make a neat calm down bottle, visit here.
So tell me…have you made a sensory bottle before? If so, what did you use in it?
Hello,
I really love this idea! What did you use to turn the water different colors? Just the crayons? Also, I noticed in another post that you used glass water bottles – have these been safe in your experience? Any accidents where they fall on the floor and shatter?
Thanks!
I have only used plastic bottles. Using glass bottles would definitely not be safe. I use food coloring to color the water.
What glue do you use to seal them
I’ve used super glue and a hot glue gun. Both work great!
Have you ever used glycerin with watter, coloring and some small toys?
You mention wanting to store them on a shelf. If you haven’t done this yet, I saw a cute idea someone posted about using a wine rack to store sensory bottles
Supplies are listed, however, not seeing WHAT THE LIQUID IS IN THE BOTTLE. Noticed others questioning this as well. I’m “assuming” it’s water, Please advise. Thanks in advance.
The liquid used in the bottle is just water. Sorry for the confusion!!
These are so cute, I love the vibrant color. I think the glass bottles are probably better then plastic so good idea.
Hi Angela – I love this idea! What did you use to turn the water different colors? Just the crayons? Also, I noticed in another post that you used glass water bottles – have these been safe in your experience? Any accidents where they fall on the floor and shatter?
Thanks!
I just used colored glitter. I use plastic water bottles so they won’t break! In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever used glass water bottles, but maybe I’m not remembering right! I recommend using Voss plastic water bottles.