We love using Discovery Bottles at The Little Nook to accompany our weekly themed lesson plans. Most of the time we fill them with rice and letters or numbers, loving the hunt.
I saw some fun ideas on Pinterest and we decided to test the waters at home to see if they really packed a punch for a rainy day activity. We had so much fun making them together and I have a feeling that we will be playing with them for a long time. We started with 6 Voss water bottles, but I bet we will add more to our collection!
1. Stickers off, gloves on and Goo Gone!
{Let your little one put on the gloves and scrub away}
2. Force Field
{Go on a hunt for things around the house that have metal. Use a magnet to move them around and talk about which ones are more magnetic. A magnetic wand works wonders!}
{rusty nails should only be added under adult supervision}
Hmmmm....what else do we have around here?
3. Sandy Beach
{We added sand}
{and then seashells}
"they smell like the ocean, are there creatures inside these?"
"Mom, I think we need animals"
Octopus - "one, two, three, four..."
3. Apple scented body wash and shiny stones
"Why is this one faster than that one?"
"the blue ones are better because you can see them more in the green sticky"
"can I touch it?"
"It looks like lots of colored bubbles in there"
"Let's make another one!"
4. Does it belong? - Hair gel and shapes
"it's so squishy"
"Can I wipe it off on your hand?" - No, giggle
{proceeded to be chased around kitchen until I had hair gel all over my hands}
"It smells like sharks" - Hmmmm...I have to think about that one.
{all of the objects that he put inside were round with the exception of one. When we finished, we talked and talked about what they all had in common and which one didn't belong in the bottle. It was a green cube}
5. Horses in the corn field
{I found some magnetic horses and we put them in corn kernels. It makes a great sound when you shake it up. Use your magnetic wand to search for your lost horses and talk about the different colors you see}
Our favorite book is Cowboy Small so we looked for Cactus the horse! Yee haw!
6. Ribbon and Water
{I saw this one on a blog. I think that it would be great for younger children to help with colors and to shake around. My 3 year old was not quite as intrigued, but it is pretty}
Our first six Discovery Bottles....
{hot glue the lids closed}