Discovery Bottles

I made these discovery bottles a couple months ago, and they are still a hit. As luck would have it, Mark had a work event that gave out lots of these small juice drinks - which were the perfect size for these bottle. And he happened to bring them home the day I had been looking and thinking about making them... very handy timing. Anyway, I love the size of the bottles.

I have seen a wide variety of things inside the discovery bottles. The general theme is exploring color, sounds, liquids, and weight. Inside mine are (from the left) torn up aluminum foil, yellow water with a little dish soap, green water with canola oil, clear water with red glitter and multi-colored sequins, macaroni, red water with blue beads, pom-poms, blue water with sea shells. I keep my bottles in a wicker basket.

Don't forget to seal the lid! I put hot glue inside the cap before screwing it on tight. I really don't want them opening these up on our white rug.

Quick thoughts:

• Like I said, I love the size. They fit the girls hands perfectly. 
• They love to shake the bottles - especially the macaroni. This lead to "Shake-shake-shake" being one of few Alyssa's phrases. Although it is more of Sh-sh-sh when she says it. Abby gets very happy when I tell her to shake - she totally understands that word. 
• The blue with shells seems to be another favorite. They are both a little more methodical about tipping this one upside down and back up. 
• The soap and the oil aren't really as interesting as I thought they would be. They aren't very obvious.
• If I were doing it again I think I would change up the glitter bottle a little. Use oil instead of water. The glitter and sequins filter to the bottom too quickly. 
• I like to leave the basket out as well. Actually I don't take the bottles out for them anymore. I usually just take one out because they are a tight fit. But then they take them out, put them in, and carry them around in the basket (heavy play when there is more than two or three!).