Discovery Bottles

Creating a Variety of Sensory Experiences

Discovery Bottles are made using plastic bottles with lids and can be a wonderful addition to your science area. Children find them fascinating and soothing to watch. Some classes have each child make their own bottle and the child is allowed to hold the bottle during rest or quiet time. Clear bottles with labels removed work best. After filling the bottle, screw on the lid, use glue around the edges to firmly attach and cover with tape. Here are just a few suggestions of items to use in the bottles.

Worm Bottle: Put several inches of corn syrup in the bottle. Add several drops of blue food coloring. Drop in a plastic fishing worm lure. Children will love to watch the worm move in the corn syrup. Other additions to bottle: plastic spider or plastic fishing lizard.

Bubble Bottle: Fill bottle half full with water. Add food coloring. Add several drops of dish detergent. Shake bottle and watch foam.

Layer Bottle: Fill bottle partially with water. Add food coloring. Finish filling with corn oil or mineral oil. Shake and watch layers separate.

Wave Bottle #1: Fill half of the bottle with cooking oil, add water to fill the bottle 3/4 full. Add blue food coloring, and seal the lid with glue. As you turn the bottle on its side, the waves roll gently.

Wave Bottle #2: Fill bottle ¾ full of corn syrup. Add food coloring. Move bottle back and forth to watch wave effect.

Desert Bottle: Add small plastic desert animals such as lizards, snakes, etc. to an empty bottle. Fill 2/3 of bottle with sand. As children turn or shake the bottle, they can see animals that live on the desert. This is a great activity for visual discrimination.

Magnetic Bottle #1:  Fill bottle with small items that can be picked up by a magnet, and objects that cannot be picked up by a magnet. Seal the bottle. Attach a magnet to the top of the bottle by tying one end of yarn around the magnet, and the other to the bottle. Children discover what items are attracted to the magnet, and which are not, by rubbing the magnet along the sides of the bottle. Children can record or draw pictures to record their observations.

Magnetic Bottle #2: Use a magnetic travel bingo game with a magnetic bingo wand and colored magnetic discs. Add about 20 magnetic bingo chips to a bottle filled with water. Attach the magnetic bingo wand to the top of the bottle by using yarn. Children will enjoy seeing how many discs they can pick up with the magnet, and enjoy watching them float to the bottle.

Magnetic Bottle #3: Add magnetic numbers, or shapes, or letters to a bottle. Attach a magnetic wand to the bottle top using yarn. Children name, write, or draw what they pick up with their magnets.

Magnetic Bottle #4 Add magnetic objects to a bottle, and fill the bottle with salt. Attach a magnetic wand to the outside of the bottle using yarn. Children run the magnets along the side of the bottle and are surprised to find what is hiding under the salt.

Dice Bottle: Drop dice into the bottle; do not fill the bottle with water. Children shake the bottle, and choose from any of these activities name the number on the dice, count out that many objects, name the number that comes before or after, write the number, predict what number will come next.

Seasonal Bottles: Fill an empty bottle with objects found in the fall. Example: fall leaves, acorns or nuts, small pumpkins or gourds, dried apples, turkey feathers, etc. Children enjoy looking and naming the objects found. Make new bottles for other seasons.

Density Bottle #1: Fill an empty bottle with hair gel. Add a marble. Children discover the properties of density as they turn the bottle.

Density Bottle #2: Fill an empty bottle with shampoo. Add a marble and watch its movement in the shampoo.

Dirt Bottle: Add dirt to a bottle, and fill half of the bottle with water. See what happens when you shake the bottles.

Clay Bottle: Add clay (the clay from the yard, not play-dough) Fill with water, and observe what happens when you shake the bottle and the clay reacts with the water.

Sand Bottle: Fill the bottom of a bottle with sand. Add water, to shake and see what happens when you shake the bottle. For a variation, add colored sand and water to a bottle.

Glitter Bottle: Fill a bottle half full with colored glitter. Add water to the top of the bottle. Shake and see what happens.

Relaxation Bottle: Add a small package of colored or holiday confetti to the bottom of the bottle. Fill the bottle with light corn syrup. It is a very relaxing experience to watch the glitter float and flutter as you gently turn the bottle.

Magnetic Shavings: Fill the bottle with magnetic shavings. Attach a magnet to the top of the bottle with yarn. Observe the shavings movement through the bottle as you rub the magnetic wand over the side of the bottle.

Potpourri Bottle: Cut a small hole into the side of the bottle; attach netting with clear plastic tape, over the hole. Fill the bottle with potpourri in flavors such as orange, vanilla, pine, gingerbread, roses, etc. Children describe the scent, or what the scent reminds them of.

Rust Bottle: Add screws bolts or nails to an empty bottle. Fill the bottle with water. Observe what happens, or track how many days the rust developed.

Glow in the Dark Bottle: Add small glow in the dark items such as stars to a bottle. Do not add any water. Children can put the bottle under a box, and look through a hole to observe what happens when the bottle is placed in the dark.

Crayon Shavings Bottle: Fill the bottle half full with crayon shavings; fill the bottle with water. Shake and observe what happens.

Float or Sink Bottle: Place a variety of objects in a bottle, some that will float, and some that will not. Fill the bottle with water. As children shake the bottle, they can observe what items float, and what items sink.

Estimation Bottle: Fill the bottle with a variety of small objects such as beans, nuts, rocks, etc. Children record their estimations on a tablet that has been placed beside the bottle. At the end of the week, open the bottle and count! Discuss the predications. Send the bottle home with the winner, and have them empty the bottle, and fill with objects for next week's bottle.

Letter Bottle: Put objects beginning with a particular sound in the bottle.

Birthday Bottle: Pour 1/3 cup corn syrup in the bottle. Add party sequins and tie on a ribbon.

Can You Find Bottle: Put small toys, trinkets, or odds and ends in a bottle. Fill full with sand, salt, rice or shredded paper. Children can name, draw, or write the objects they find.

Mystery Sound Bottle: Put rice, beans, water, etc. in a bottle and insert bottle in a sock. Children shake and try to determine the contents.

Smell and Tell Bottle: Poke holes in a bottle or use a sport bottle. Fill with potpourri. (Put cooking extracts or other aromas on cotton balls and put in bottles.)

Story Bottle: Add small items to a bottle. Children look at the objects in the bottle and make up a story integrating the items.

Beach Bottle: Pour 1 cup sand in a bottle. Add small shells or a little fish made from Styrofoam. Fill 2/3 with water. Add a drop of blue food coloring and a little glitter.

Jeepers Peepers: Put hair gel in a bottle. Add some wiggle eyes. Jeepers! Peepers!

Bugs and Spiders Bottle: Fill the bottle 2/3 full with dirt. Add small plastic insects, spiders, works, etc. Have children look for the objects in the dirt. Count how many of each they can find.

Sink and Float Bottle: Fill a bottle half full with water. Add several items that float (plastic toy, stick, Styrofoam) and several items that sink (paper clip, rock, or coin).

Have fun! Create your own bottles and share your ideas!