Early Learning, Games

Weather Sensory Bottles

Let’s make weather in a bottle!

Looking for a fun activity this that allows your toddler to use their senses to and explore the world around them?

Make weather sensory bottles!

So what are sensory bottles? Sensory bottles go by many names… sensory bottles, discovery bottles, sensory jars, calm down jars, and I am sure many, many more!

No matter the name, one thing is in common with all of them. Sensory bottles are created by recycling water bottles and filling them with an array of items, such as colourful beads and sequins.

Why are Sensory Bottles Important?

The most obvious benefit of sensory bottles would be their direct connection to sensory play. Sensory play is a hands on way to expose children to the world around them and allow their brains to make important connection. I love how Sensory bottles address a wide range of skills and concepts and can be adapted to meet the needs of the children using them.

They allow children to use their senses to make sense of their world, while keeping them safe and keeping clean up to a minimum. Bonus!

So let’s get started!

What you need:

  • 4 empty clear plastic water bottles with labels removed
  • Pom poms, glitter, sequins or other items to float in the bottles

  • Food colouring

Step 1: Take out your supplies

  • Prepare your work area
  • Take out your pompoms, glitter and leaf sequins or other items you have around the house
  • Fill each bottle 4/5 full with water.
  • Take out blue food colouring and 4 empty clear plastic water bottles with labels removed.

Step 2: Make some weather!

      • Let’s make different types of weather in each bottle!

Sunny bottle – Add one drop of blue food colouring for blue sky and push in the yellow pompom sun

Cloudy – push your white pompom clouds into the water

Rainy bottle – add your silver and blue glitter to the water

Windy – drop your leaf sequins into the water

Step 3: Explain and explore

    • Show the bottles to your child and explain what type of weather each one represents.
    • Show them how to carefully move the bottle from side to side and roll gently on the floor.