Toddler Sensory Bottles

Children (and adults) learn best when their senses are engaged. Sensory play helps the development of cognitive, social, language, physical, and creative skills.

Cognitively, sensory play encourages children to problem solve. If you give a child a sealed bottle of oil and plain water, they will shake it over and over but see that it will never mix. However, if you hand them a sealed bottle of red water, oil, and blue water, they will see that the liquid turns purple. 

Socially, sensory play lets the children be fully in control of their actions. In my classroom, we have a large water/sand table. I usually have 2-3 children at that center at a time. While they are of course learning and playing I will ask them questions about the material or liquid in the table and they usually talk amongst themselves about it as well. 

Physically, sensory play is usually combined with the development of fine motor skills. Sometimes, the sensory tables will be filled with items or liquid that the children can measure, pour, scoop, or roll (play doh) 

Creatively, sensory play provides an open opportunity for the process to be more important than the product. 

Each day I make sure to include at least two sensory activity times on our lesson plan. We usually play in the water/sand table in the mornings and then cook, play with sensory bottles, play with playdoh or cloud dough, etc. In the afternoon. 

Below are some of the sensory bottles that I have made for my classroom. Each of these were made from the small nesquick chocolate milk bottles that were thoughly washed, filled, and then sealed shut with hot glue and super glue. I have had one or two break after being slammed on the floor (toddlers, what can you do? Haha) so make sure that you do not use anything inside that could porentionally poison or hurt a child. 

LEFT: confetti/paper scraps, beans, and glitter RIGHT: "I Spy" bottle

LEFT: colored rotini noddles, glitter, plastic toy bugs RIGHT: yellow rice and red beans 

LEFT: gold glitter, oil, and water RIGHT: dish soap and Pom Poms

LEFT: dish soap, water and red food coloring RIGHT: bubble mix, green food coloring, and googley eyes 

I usually make my own playdoh using: 

1C flour 

1/2 C salt 

1 C water 

2 TBS vegetable oil 

2 tsp cream of tarter

7-8 drops food coloring 

Put all of the ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat until it starts to boil. Reduce heat and stir together until a dough forms. It will be very very hot so I usually remove it from the pan, place it on a sheet of wax paper and let it cool for 5 minutes then knees it together until it is completely cool and the perfect consistency!

Finally, this is our OOBLECK. I use equal parts cornstarch and water, shaving cream, and food coloring. 

Many parents have told me that they don't allow this type of play in their homes because it is "too messy". That is unfortunate but it is my job to make sure that they are at least exposed to it at school. I love messy play and the kids love it too! 

If you have any recipes for messy play comment them down below! 

Sarah!