Are you a mommy who hates the MESS but wants your kid to engage in sensory play! Sensory bottles are the BEST way to fix this problem! There are so many different kinds of sensory bottles you can make with your little ones, but since tomorrow is the Fourth of July we made this RED, WHITE and BLUE GLITTER sensory bottle! My baby and toddler can not play with fireworks but they can play with this SPARKLY SENSORY BOTTLE!

What is a Sensory bottle?

Sensory bottles also known as “calm down” bottles, are PERFECT to help calm a child when their emotions become too much! Focusing on the objects, in this case glitter, helps calm down a child and helps them focus their attention. As the bottle clears, so does their mind.

How do you use a sensory bottle?

Before your child uses a sensory bottle, you will need to teach them how to use it and explain all the rules. The number one rule for Aliza, is DO NOT OPEN THE BOTTLE. She is 2 ½ and the first thing she wants to do to any bottle is open it up and drink it. She probably thinks this is a new fancy juice! WRONG! Well to avoid this, I hot glued the top and put fancy ribbon around it so she wouldn’t focus so much on opening the bottle but instead focus on what is in the bottle. The next rule is DO NOT THROW the sensory bottle. She knows they will break if they are thrown and if she abuses the bottle they will disappear. This is not an item or toy that I keep laying around or in her room. She is still a toddler at the end of the day. She is supervised during any and all sensory activities !

Benefits of sensory bottles

Sensory bottles allow children to explore, discover, imagine, create, and learn while engaging their senses. It captures their attention as they’re often mesmerized by watching their slow descent and this calms their breathing and helps them regulate themselves and their emotions. This is even beneficial for your infants!

How to make a fourth of July themed GLITTER sensory bottle!

If you look up how to make a sensory bottle you will see a bunch of different methods because there are numerous kinds of sensory bottles made! I will explain the steps I used for this particular sensory bottle!

Fourth of July Sensory Bottle Materials:

• Clear Bottle
• Clear Glue
• Red, White (silver) and Blue Glitter
• Measuring cup
• Whisk
• Hot Glue Gun
• Red Ribbon

RED WHITE AND BLUE SENSORY BOTTLE STEP DIRECTIONS:

First boil 1 ½ cups of water and then pour it into a 1-quart measuring cup. Pour 6 oz of clear glue into the hot water! Don’t get crazy with trying to measure out 6 oz of glue, you will give yourself a headache. Just eyeball it. I used more than half of my bottle of glue just because I wanted it to be nice and thick! This will allow all the glitter inside to take more time descending and more time for you to look at it fall. Just make sure your water and glue has a nice texture 😉

Mix well with your whisk. You do not have to spend hours whisking OK!

Next I took my three packs of glitter and tossed them into the mix. Do this carefully because we all know how annoying glitter is to clean. I started with just a couple shakes and ended up using all the glitter. Why not!

Give it a final stir and pour mixture into your bottle. You may need to help some of the glitter into the bottle, but don’t worry about the last little flakes. Hot glue the lid and ribbon to the bottle and l/.et it cool down before letting your kids play with it!

I hope you and your little one enjoy this simple, fun and most of all CALMING activity ! HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

-COTAMOM

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