Summer means lots of empty sparkling water bottles in our house, and before recycling them I wanted to turn a few into fun sensory bottles for Veronika. There are so many ways to do this, and here were three I put together as a set this morning. She loved going back and forth between them all day!

For version number one, I filled a bottle 1/3 of the way with water. Add a drop or two of food coloring, then some fun items to swirl around; we used large glitter and small pony beads. Fill the rest of the way with baby oil. Seal the cap with hot glue.

She loved this one, immediately delighted by the colors and shine.

“Look at the beads!” she said, watching things swirl around.

For version number two, I used a larger 1.5 L bottle. Fill the bottle 1/3 of the way with water. Add a few spoonfuls of tempera paint (we used red), then add 1/3 cup dish detergent. Seal the lid with hot glue. Shake it up and watch the colored bubbles!

She loved how bubbly this one was.

It was also fun to roll it on the floor and give chase!

For the final version, I snipped a few pieces of brightly colored yarn to about 6 inches in length. Add to an empty bottle, add water, and seal the cap with hot glue. Now the yarn lengths dance and swirl in the bottle. They almost look like jellyfish!

She loved watching this one. The more you swirl it, the better the yarn “dances”. I loved watching her move the bottles around all day, sometimes rearranging them on shelves, or shaking them, or just picking them up in her playroom and looking at them. A great way to fill those summer hours!