Fun at Home with Kids

Rainbow Scavenger Hunt and Rainbow Discovery Bottles

Sunday, February 17, 2013

If you missed our first post on Discovery Bottles, you can find it here.  Our baby X loved his first set of Discovery Bottles so much that we had to keep going!  What better way to celebrate color (and set up a fun challenge for his preschool aged sister) than to make a set of Rainbow Discovery Bottles?  They are so beautiful they double as a decoration when we're not using them!  Click here to see how we display our Discovery Bottles in our Playroom.  :)


S knows all her colors really well, so she was solely in charge of scouring our house for items small enough to fit into the bottles that fit the color we were searching for.  She went through all the rooms of the house and made sure to hit the recycling as well.  Despite all coming from our house, each bottle is amazingly unique.  She was very opinionated about what went in and how much of each thing went in.  She definitely had a vision!  If you have an older child without a younger sibling, you could always just make this activity a rainbow scavenger hunt.  You could complete the Discovery Bottles and just have them as an art display, fill them with rice and make them an I-Spy bottle, or you could make a giant rainbow out of the items as an artwork piece (this is my plan for the items once they're no longer used as Discovery Bottles - converting them to a giant rainbow art piece for our Art Room).

X taking a close look.  A very close look.


S displaying her final product for the color green.  Not purposefully, but conveniently, both kids managed to be wearing green that day!


 S decided to add a bunch of dried split peas to this bottle, as well as green jingle bells, so it was nice and musical for little X.


Yes, he would seriously make this face for each new bottle.  It was adorable every time!


Just like before, we used empty VOSS water bottles because they are BPA free and lightweight plastic.  We love the style and that you can easily see the contents.  We found ours at a local grocery store, but they are also available on Amazon.

Because this activity lent itself to discussing rainbows with S, I taught her a rainbow song to remember all the colors of a rainbow that I'd learned when I was her age:  

"Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Purple 
Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Purple 
Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Purple 
Make the Rainbow Bright!"


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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children.  As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family.  I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision.  Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies).  Observe caution and safety at all times.  The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.

28 comments:

  1. Those bottles are beautiful - they'd look great lined up on a window sill when the kids are done exploring them!
    Thanks so much for sharing. I love them.

    Warmly,
    MaryLea

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    1. We have them on a shelf downstairs because I love staring at them so much! Thank you!

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  2. Oh my gosh! So glad I found your blog. Your little one is adorable. Those pictures are priceless!

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    1. Thank you! He is HILARIOUS. Best expressions ever. :)

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  3. I love the bottles you have for this! I usually just use washed water bottles, but I would love some more variety. Where did you get them? By the way, I just found your blog today and LOVE it! I am a preschool teacher, and science is the area I am always trying to improve on. I feel like I am in "science heaven" now :).

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    1. Hi Katie! They are VOSS bottles - I eventually found them at Whole Foods. There are more details on Discovery Bottles in this post: http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2013/02/discovery-bottles-infant-please-always.html
      Thank you so much!!! Glad you're finding helpful stuff!!! More science to come, I promise. :)

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    2. Thanks so much! I look forward to more wonderful ideas!!

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  4. Love these! Wish we had Voss bottles in Canada.. boo :( I featured your discovery bottles on my blog post of the bottles that I made too! http://www.needlesandbows.com/2013/10/coloured-sensory-bottles/

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    1. Super cute, Amelia! Argh - what a bummer about the VOSS bottles - but I love your bottles too! Pinned 'em. Thanks for the feature. :)

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    2. I found mine at London Drugs

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  5. Did you add clear water to these to make them "move", or are they dry inside? Some look like they are floating. I love them all. I volunteer in a nursing home (crafts) and we will make several kinds of sensory bottles for children with cancer. What a treat for them to be "sidetracked" with something fun like sensory bottles. Thank you in advance for your response!

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    1. Oh what a thoughtful thing you do!!!! They are filled with air - I laid them down to photograph them because it was easier, so that's why they probably look like they are floating. I'd recommend doing air just because water gets REALLY heavy. Let me know if I can help with anything else and thank you for what you do!!!

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  6. I just found your blog through pinterest. I love it all. I'm a first time mother trying to find fun and easy things to do with my, soon to be, 6 month old. Thank you for this.

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    1. Oh perfect! I hope you find lots of fun things to do with your baby here. Thank you for the kind words!! :)

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  7. Did you remove the labels from the VOSS bottles? I just purchased some to make these bottles for our baby, but they appear to be printed on.

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    1. Oh noes! In my experience, the glass bottles are etched and the plastic water bottles have a sticker you can peel off...did you happen to get glass bottles?

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  8. Did you use water in your rainbow bottles?

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    1. Nope! Just air. That way they are nice and light. :)

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  9. So much to see and later to talk about! Thanks! And yes in any window a smile will come!

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  10. Hi, congrats on the blog! It's amazing! I was wondering, where did you find all the colorful "stuff"to put inside the bottles?
    Kind regards,
    Bernice

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    1. Hi Bernice! Thank you so much! :) I got all the little bits and pieces from around the house (like toys/recycling) and from our art supplies (which we purchased at a local craft store originally). I hope that helps! :)

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  11. Hi there, great ideas! The bottles are 330 ml or 500 ml capacity? Thanks! :-)

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    1. It was so long ago I'm not positive. But I think 500mL.

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    2. In Australia at least, 330ml are the glass ones, and the plastic ones are 500ml. The plastic ones are a bit harder to find (apparently people prefer drinking out of glass, why aren't they thinking of us?! 😀). Again, probably useless outside Australia sorry, but I've found the plastic ones at Woolworths a few times, but never at Coles.

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  12. Those faces are seriously the cutest thing I've seen in awhile! I love this idea, thanks :)

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    1. Thank you!!! I must agree with you about the faces. :) And so glad you like the idea!

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  13. You can also purchase Voss water bottles at boxed.com

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