4th of July Discovery Bottle for Kids
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Are you looking for a super easy and fun sensory play activity for Independence Day? Look no farther than this 4th of July Discovery bottle that you can create with your kids! A great way to work on some fine motor and sensory activities with a fun theme.
4th of July Discovery Bottle Items
To create this discovery bottle you will need:
- Empty plastic water bottle (I used this one)
- Red glitter
- Blue glitter
- American flag buttons (we found ours in the scrapbook isle at Hobby Lobby)
- Star buttons (red, white and blue)
- Hand sanitizer
- Water
- Patriotic washi tape
Directions for Patriotic Themed Discovery Bottle
Pour some of the red and blue glitter into the bottom of your empty water bottle. Be sure to not use too much or you won't be able to see the floating items inside the bottle later.
Add your flag buttons, stars, and fill about 1/4 of the way up the water bottle with water.
Squeeze hand sanitizer into the rest of the water bottle until it fills it almost to the top.
Tilt your bottle back and forth to mix all the items together. The glitter will remain floating the entire time because of the hand sanitizer. You are looking for the flag buttons and stars to gently float back and forth when you tip the bottle over.
If they are moving too quickly, simply add more hand sanitizer. If they are moving too slowly, add some more water.
Once you are satisfied with the way it looks and move, seal it tightly with the lid. Then wrap the top of the bottle with patriotic washi tape. I find this helps to discourage smaller kids from trying to twist the bottle open.
You can also use a small amount of hot glue around the inside of the lid and screw it on securely that way (especially if you have very little babies or toddlers around who might get a hold of it).
That's it! Just sit back and enjoy the suspended glitter and gently floating flags and buttons.
You could play some great I Spy games with this such as trying to count how many flags are inside, how many red stars, or blue stars etc.
Looking for more easy and fun sensory play activities like this one? Check out my resources below.
Heather Greutman, COTA
Heather Greutman is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant with experience in school-based OT services for preschool through high school. She uses her background to share child development tips, tools, and strategies for parents, educators, and therapists. She is the author of many ebooks including The Basics of Fine Motor Skills, and Basics of Pre-Writing Skills, and co-author of Sensory Processing Explained: A Handbook for Parents and Educators.