How To Make Easy Ocean Sensory Bottles For Kids

Sensory bottle are becoming more and more popular and they can be a fun activity for you and your kids to make together!

This ocean themed sensory bottle would be great for little ones that love the water and animals but the basic idea can be adapted for different themes!

Try pink or purple colouring, extra glitter and some small rainbow and unicorn toys for a super girly, princess or unicorn themed bottles.

If your kids are really into rainforest animals, try green food colouring and monkeys instead. Even multicoloured beads and bits and bobs would make a great sensory bottle for little ones, who’ll be fascinated with the colours and the way the light bounces off the glitter.

Note – I specifically suggest Elmer’s glue here just because that’s what I use for all my kids crafts. I’m sure other brands would work in this case but I know that when I try to make slime with other brands it doesn’t work as well. So, if you want to make slime as well as these bottles I would suggest Elmer’s. You can now buy it in some Kmart stores if you don’t want to buy online!

What You’ll Need

1 (500ml) plastic bottle (similar available here)

3 (5 ounce) bottles Elmer’s Glue in clear (available here)

About 1 cup warm water

1 drop blue food colouring

About 1 tablespoon glitter or confetti (if desired)

For this project, we used:

Note: Glow in the dark glitter would also be very fun.

How to Make an Ocean Sensory Bottle

1.Empty one bottle of glue into the bottle. 

2. Fill the empty glue bottle about half full with warm water (about ¼ cup) and seal with the lid. Shake well to combine the remaining glue with the water. Pour into jar with glue and shake or stir to combine.

3. If you’re adding glitter or toys, add part of the glitter and toys into the glue mixture.

4. Seal the jar and shake well. If the glitter or confetti does not move easily, add more warm water. If the glitter or confetti moves too quickly, add additional glue. Continue adding in layers with the glitter and toys until you achieve your desired effect.

5. When the contents of the bottle move according to your preference, seal the bottle and glue the lid closed to avoid spills.

6. If desired, cover the lid with duct tape or additional decorations.

For another fun recipe, check out our post on slime recipes. Learn more about the benefits of sensory play next.

Sophie Marie

Sophie Marie is passionate about providing the very best for her kids and her family. She spends half of the year living in an isolated community in Far North Queensland so online research and finding the best products is a skill she's perfected over time.
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