Creative Family Fun

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Sensory Play

Sun and Rain Sensory Bottles

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I’ve long admired sensory bottles and have been wanting to make a few of my own.

There are so many incredible versions, but this time, I opted for a simple glittery bottle.

We used sunshine and rain as our inspirations to make these gorgeous Sun and Rain Sensory Bottles.

Making sensory bottles is always fun, especially when you're inspired by the weather. These sun and rain sensory bottles are simple and fun to make.

*Disclosure: CraftProjectIdeas.com provided some of the supplies used in this project. This  post also contains Amazon Affiliate and other links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies Needed

Empty plastic bottles (We used these.)
Water
Food Coloring
Glitter
Tri-beads
Super glue (adult use only!)

Making sensory bottles is always fun, especially when you're inspired by the weather. These sun and rain sensory bottles are simple and fun to make.

How to make your sun and rain sensory bottles

To make your bottles, fill an empty bottle with water. Leave some space at the top for your add-ins.

Next, add 5 to 6 drops of food coloring. My 4-year-old was in charge of the food coloring, so we ended up with more a lot more drops.

Now it’s time to add the glitter. We have an abundant supply of glitter, so we added quite a bit. The more glitter the better, I say!

Making sensory bottles is always fun, especially when you're inspired by the weather. These sun and rain sensory bottles are simple and fun to make.

Next, add your tri-beads. We picked out orange and yellow beads for our sunshine bottle and blue and clear beads for our rain bottle.

Previously, we experimented with a few different items until we hit on something that would work in our bottles. We tried foam shapes, but they only float to the top and we couldn’t get them to mix in with the water and glitter. After a lot of experimenting, we discovered that items that sink mix together nicely when you’re shaking the bottle.

Once you have everything in your bottle, add a little more water to fill your bottle to the top.

Finally, super glue the cap onto the bottle. Now you won’t have to worry about it opening and spilling water and glitter all over your floor!

Making sensory bottles is always fun, especially when you're inspired by the weather. These sun and rain sensory bottles are simple and fun to make.

(Here’s a little behind the scene picture for you! My daughter was taking her own pics right beside me. We found ourselves racing against time to catch all the glitter before it settled!)

Making sensory bottles is always fun, especially when you're inspired by the weather. These sun and rain sensory bottles are simple and fun to make.

I just love the final result of these sun and rain sensory bottles. My 6-year-old can sit and watch them for a long time while rolling them around and around.

They’re quite beautiful!

Making sensory bottles is always fun, especially when you're inspired by the weather. These sun and rain sensory bottles are simple and fun to make.

Make this a family adventure!

This is a perfect craft to do together as a family.
Cost: Under $10. It all depends on what supplies you already have on hand.
Prep time: Under 10 minutes + a trip to the store for supplies, if needed.
Ages: 4 and up. Certain steps will need adult supervision.
Time needed: 20 minutes (plus drying time for the super glue)

More Great Sensory Bottle Ideas

Babbling Brook sensory bottle from House of Burke.
Spring flower sensory bottle from My Little 3 and Me.
Making waves sensory bottle from Hands On: As We Grow.
Magnetic sensory bottle from Munchkin and Bean.

Making sensory bottles is always fun, especially when you're inspired by the weather. These sun and rain sensory bottles are simple and fun to make.

You make also like one of these fun ideas:

Colored Ice Fun

Raindrop Mobiles

10 Ways to Learn About the Weather

Color Mixing Lab STEAM Activity

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What do you get when you combine science and art into a fun STEAM project?

A color mixing lab!

We continued our study of color by performing some experiments to find out what happens when you mix color.

Combine art and science into a fun STEAM project where you can learn about color mixing. This color mixing lab is a fun hands-on sensory activity.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Set up your color mixing lab

We used two basic forms of color: colored water and colored ice cubes.

I prepped the ice a few hours earlier by adding a couple of drops of food coloring to the water in an ice cube tray. I only made the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.

When it was time to experiment, I also made three cups of primary colored water using food coloring again.

Combine art and science into a fun STEAM project where you can learn about color mixing. This color mixing lab is a fun hands-on sensory activity.

I set up the lab with the ice cubes, water, and a pile of white coffee filters.

I showed the girls how they could dip the filters into the water to dye them.

Combine art and science into a fun STEAM project where you can learn about color mixing. This color mixing lab is a fun hands-on sensory activity.

Experiment with color

The experiments began in earnest.

We’d dip in blue and then use a yellow ice cube to color over it. Suddenly we had green!

We tried red and blue and got purple.

It wasn’t long before we had a pile of colorful coffee filters and a couple of girls wondering what would happen if they dipped a coffee filter in all of the colors? The result, a “beautiful” brown coffee filter!

Combine art and science into a fun STEAM project where you can learn about color mixing. This color mixing lab is a fun hands-on sensory activity.

When we ran out of coffee filters, we took our experiments one step further. It was time to mix the water and the ice cubes.

We dropped the yellow cubes into the blue water and watched as the water quickly turned from blue to green. Drop, drop, drop, and suddenly our primary colors turned into secondary colors.

So much fun!

Combine art and science into a fun STEAM project where you can learn about color mixing. This color mixing lab is a fun hands-on sensory activity.

Experimenting with color is a fun and vibrant way to mix a little art and science together.

Set up your own color mixing lab; it’s fun for preschoolers and school-aged kids!

What is your favorite way to experiment with color?

Combine art and science into a fun STEAM project where you can learn about color mixing. This color mixing lab is a fun hands-on sensory activity.

More colorful activities you may enjoy:

Rainbow Writing

Rainbow Color Hunt

Color Wheel Painting

Indoor Color Scavenger Hunt

Ice Experiments and Play Ideas for Preschoolers

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Ice is cool. It’s refreshing. And, it’s a lot of fun to play with.

So, get ready to have some fun with these simple ice experiments for preschoolers (and also toddlers). They’ll create, build, excavate, and even practice letters with these fun ideas.

These ideas are perfect for a hot summer day or fun for any day. Who doesn’t want to play with ice?

Learn and have fun with these simple ice experiments for preschoolers. Find out what makes ice melt, make colorful ice creations, and more.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Simple Ice Experiments

(Pictured left to right above)

Do some super-simple ice activities and experiments that even toddlers will enjoy with these ice play ideas.

Observe how ice floats in water when you make these simple colorful ice boats from Busy Toddler.

Can you rescue all the colorful items in this rainbow ice tower excavation experiment from Fun at Home With Kids?

Experiment with different types of salt to see which will melt ice the fastest in this experiment from Coffee Cups and Crayons.

Explore fizzy ice with this simple science experiment from Toddler Approved.

Rescue dinosaurs from their frozen eggs in this fun experiment from Little Bins for Little Hands.

Go ice fishing and see which temperature of water melts ice the fastest in this fun experiment from Science Sparks.

Can you help Batman escape? Rescue Batman from Ice Mountain in this fun (and exciting) science experiment from Crafts on Sea.

Excavate all the frozen cars you can from a block of ice with this simple ice melting experiment from Little Bins for Little Hands.

Learn and have fun with these simple ice experiments for preschoolers. Find out what makes ice melt, make colorful ice creations, and more.

Create with Ice

(Pictured left to right above)

Make Frozen Fractuals Ice Sculptures with this fun art activity from Happy Hooligans. This is so much fun for your Frozen fans!

Use ice for a printmaking tools with this fun ocean-themed painting idea from Science Sparks.

Use popsicle molds to make some colored ice pops with this idea from Kids Activities Blog which you can use to make some fun artwork.

An ice block becomes your canvas with this fun ice painting idea from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds.

Paint with ice chalk and oil with this fun art idea from Learn Play Imagine.

Create a beautiful (but temporary) sculpture by making rainbow tunnels in ice with this idea from I Can Teach My Child.

Learn and have fun with these simple ice experiments for preschoolers. Find out what makes ice melt, make colorful ice creations, and more.

Sensory Play

(Pictured left to right above)

Combine water beads with ice with this fun sensory play idea from The Educators’ Spin On It.

Add colored ice to your water table with this fun ice sensory play idea from Fun-A-Day.

Grab a bag of ice for these seven simple sensory play ideas from Lemon Lime Adventures. (not pictured)

Have some fun playing with beautiful flower ice cubes with this idea from The Craft Train.

There are so many fun ways to play with colored ice cubes and sticks. Check out all the fun suggestions here.

Combine some movement and some heavy work for this Ice Cube Proprioception Jump and Smash activity from The OT Toolbox.

Build and play with ice LEGOs with this fun idea from Crafts on Sea.

Learn with Ice

(Pictured left to right above)

Learn your letter and have some icy fun when you play with this ABC Excavation Sensory Bin from Parenting Chaos.

Slide a sounds and build some simple words with this slippery word building activity from Life Over C’s.

Which of these ice experiments do you want to try?

Learn and have fun with these simple ice experiments for preschoolers. Find out what makes ice melt, make colorful ice creations, and more.

If you enjoyed these ice experiments and play ideas, the above photo is perfect for sharing on Facebook, or you can share the photo below on Pinterest.

Learn and have fun with these simple ice experiments for preschoolers. Find out what makes ice melt, make colorful ice creations, explore some sensory play ideas and more.

Colored Ice Fun

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I can’t imagine anything more fun and refreshing on a hot summer’s day than playing with ice. So, grab some fun ice cube trays and create some colored ice cubes (or sticks) for some creative fun.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Today I’m happy to welcome Ana from Babble Dabble Do to this space with a fun ice play activity perfect for summer. While you guys are reading this, I’m going to head out to the store to buy some of these fun ice cube trays! Take it away Ana…

Make some simple colored ice to use for creative activities, sensory play, STEM experiments, art projects and more. Colored ice is such a fun tool to use!
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details. 

Hi there, I’m Ana from Babble Dabble Do and I’m excited to be guest posting on Creative Family Fun today!

With summer finally here I’ve been itching to play with ice as a “cool” outdoor activity for the kids. If you’ve been to my blog you know I’m obsessed with color, and food coloring is something I use on a regular basis in our projects.  This week I thought it would be fun to experiment with colored ice and see what interesting activities we could come up with!

Make some simple colored ice to use for creative activities, sensory play, STEM experiments, art projects and more. Colored ice is such a fun tool to use!

Materials:

Water
Food Coloring
Cups/Bowls
Ice cube trays and/or different molds- I used trays that make ice sticks for water bottles. The pieces of ice were like logs, perfect to build and draw with!
Salt and salt shaker
Shaved ice (optional)– use a snow cone maker to make it
Small plates
Spoons or eye droppers
Paper

Make some simple colored ice to use for creative activities, sensory play, STEM experiments, art projects and more. Colored ice is such a fun tool to use!

You’ll need to factor in a little prep time for these activities because you have to freeze things in advance BUT a few minutes of freezing the day before is all you need. Using food coloring, tint several glasses of water with different colors and pour into ice
cube tray molds. Freeze overnight or for several hours.

Building:

Stack your ice cubes on top of one another to try and make a structure. Using drops of water and shaved ice, “glue” the pieces of ice together. “Gluing” only worked for us about half the time. When finished, carefully move the sculpture back into the freezer to fuse it together! If you plan on refreezing, use a sturdy tray underneath the sculpture as too much movement will cause it to break apart.

Make some simple colored ice to use for creative activities, sensory play, STEM experiments, art projects and more. Colored ice is such a fun tool to use!

Salt and Ice Experiment:

I don’t think the interaction of salt and ice ever gets old to watch. Give your child a salt shaker and let them sprinkle salt on the
ice to make holes and give it texture.

Color Mixing:

Using red, blue, and yellow ice sticks and three different bowls, encourage your child to experiment with color mixing. Let them melt two colored ice sticks in the same bowl to make a magical new color appear!

Water Table:

They might not last long in the blazing heat, but colored ice would make a fun addition to a water table.

Drawing with Ice:

You’ll need to use a strong concentration of color for this one to work well; use the ice sticks like crayons to color on paper.

Melting Artwork:

Place several ice sticks on a piece of white paper and let them melt to make a free form painting.

Open-ended Play:

I had originally planned to make only ice sculptures but when I gave my kids the ice sticks they had ideas of their own! They stacked and sorted them and just loved the sensory experience of playing with a cold material.

Make some simple colored ice to use for creative activities, sensory play, STEM experiments, art projects and more. Colored ice is such a fun tool to use!
Ana Luisa Dziengel is an architect, award winning furniture designer, and creatively inspired mom making magic with her three kids in sunny Los Angeles!
Web: http://babbledabbledo.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Babble-Dabble-Do/206167262806000
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BabbleDabbleDo
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/babbledabbledo/

You may also like one of these activities:

Ice Play

Color Mixing Lab

Indoor Color Scavenger Hunt

Name Recognition Sensory Bin

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I’ve read so many books, blog posts, and magazine articles about preparing my child for kindergarten.

It’s a huge deal. And since I’m the one in charge of preschool, it’s all up to me to prepare my girls. That’s a big responsibility.

So I read every thing I could find.

There were so many things to learn, but one thing really stood out to me. It was something so simple, so simple that I took it for granted. The one thing that stood out to me was the importance of name recognition for preschoolers.

Of course! We need a fun name recognition activity so we set up this Name Recognition Sensory Bin.

Set up a simple Name Recognition Sensory Bin to help your preschooler get ready for kindergarten. Kids will love this fun name recognition activity. #preschool #ece #CreativeFamilyFun

My preschooler needs to learn to recognize her name. It’s going to be everywhere.

Where will she hang her coat? Underneath her name. I don’t want her to have to wait around for help. I want her to confidently recognize her name and know which coat hook to use.

So, I created a simple Name Recognition Sensory Bin. It is a great hands-on way for her to get familiar with the letters in her name and help her learn to spell it. She’s learning and she’s having fun. You can’t beat that.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Set up a simple Name Recognition Sensory Bin to help your preschooler get ready for kindergarten. Kids will love this fun name recognition activity.

Set up your name recognition sensory bin

I started with a shoebox-sized plastic bin with a lid. That way when we’re not playing with it, we can close it up securely.

I then filled it with a variety of dried beans. I had several already-opened bags of beans in my cupboard, so I filled it with black beans, red beans, lentils, and split peas. There was a fun variety of colors and plan on using this for several other sensory bins I have planned.

Set up a simple Name Recognition Sensory Bin to help your preschooler get ready for kindergarten. Kids will love this fun name recognition activity.

Next, I added the letters.

I used our magnetic letters and added only the ones that made up my preschooler’s name.

I typed up my daughter’s name in a variety of fun fonts and colors, laminated them, and cut them out individually.

Also, I wrote the individual letters on milk caps. You could also use small wooden disks, wooden letters, alphabet blocks, foam letters, or anything else you can find to write letters on.

To complete the bin, I added a few bowls and spoons for scooping.

In order to control the mess factor, we lay out an old pillowcase and put the bin on top of it. There is only one rule: everything stays on the pillowcase.

It really was simple to put together. I don’t know why I ever hesitated in making sensory bins!

Set up a simple Name Recognition Sensory Bin to help your preschooler get ready for kindergarten. Kids will love this fun name recognition activity.

My daughter spent a long time playing with her bin. She ran her fingers through it, hid all the letters under the beans, and spent a very long time scooping and pouring. We also worked together to spell her name with all the different letters in the bin.

Some more playful learning ideas for your sensory bin:

Sort the letters into piles of like letters

Try to spell your name using different types of letters.

Close your eyes and pull out a letter. What letter did you pull?

Set up a simple Name Recognition Sensory Bin to help your preschooler get ready for kindergarten. Kids will love this fun name recognition activity.

I’m a lot lesson worried about my daughter finding the correct coat hook thanks to this Name Recognition Sensory Bin. She’ll be able to hang up her coat with confidence. And that’s important.

For more fun ideas for your preschooler, please see:

Ready for Kindergarten Book Study: Name Recognition

Go Outside: Shape Hopscotch

Rhythm and Number Rhymes

Easy Homemade Name Puzzle at Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds