Many of you have probably already seen these; some of you have already made them even! However, it you haven't, they are awesome. If you have, I am going to expand on ideas you may not have thought of. The simple way to make these is to get regular water bottles. Peel the labels off then you may need to put some hot water in them to help get the glue off. If you fill the bottle with hot water, it will melt the glue on the outside and you should be able to work off the sticky glue. Then get creative!
The common one is to add some colored water and oil into the bottles. Then add glitter or sprinkles, confetti. Pretty much anything!
A really fun one is to fill it about a quarter full with water then get a clear dish soap and just put a couple of drops in it. It will bubble up when shaken and will eventually go back to looking like clear liquid.
These are great in an infant and toddler room! Be sure to glue the caps on! They are also fun in a preschool room. However, I change it up a bit.
I use Snapple bottles or another glass bottle that has a cool clear shape. (Yes, I use glass bottles in the classroom! I trust my children and I teach them how to respect things!). I have taken 8 glass bottles, filled each one with a different color to a different level in order to make a musical scale. I then line them up on the shelf and put two rhythm sticks next to them (so that two can play at a time). It's also fun to fill the jars with a three layer separator: water, oil, and hair conditioner works well.
Leave the water out of it and put some bells in there too! That's always fun!
The key to making these bottles is to be creative. Add a liquid, don't add a liquid. Use anything that can fit into the opening: glitter, confetti, cotton balls, screws, beads, toothpicks, the list is endless!
If I have the children help me make the bottles, which the older ones do, I don't glue the lids shut because they already know not to open it. If I use it with the younger ones or they didn't help me make it, I hot glue the lids shut so that they don't accidentally get opened. Then again, if they did, we would just clean it up. No big deal!
With the plastic bottles, they will eventually crack (usually a small hole in some inconspicuous spot) and will begin to leak. In the 7 plus years I have use glass in my classroom, I have only had 2 bottles break. One was my fault completely. I wasn't paying attention when I was putting away mats and hit one off the top of the shelf. It happens! I cleaned it up, and we moved on...making another bottle to replace the one I broke.
The infants and toddler get fascinated and use lots of observation with these. The preschoolers like using them in dramatic play, music, and science. They are a lot of fun! If you make some, take pictures and send them to me. I would love to see what you all come up with!
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