Rainbow Counting Bear Discovery Bottles

I have had rainbow counting bear discovery bottles in my head for over a year now, and seeing them in person was even more amazing than I had imagined. In fact, I planned to make just one. After the kids and I fell in love with it though, we decided to make two more!

Our rainbow bear sensory bottles are just a few of the beautiful rainbow sensory bottles from the Discovery Bottles Blog Hop, so be sure to look through the rest at the bottom of this post.

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Suspended (“Floating”) Rainbow Bear Sensory Bottle

The first rainbow bear discovery bottle makes the little bears appear as though they are floating! They are suspended in the bottle and stay in place really well.

This sensory bottle has the smallest counting bears. Bear Family Rainbow Counters come in three sizes: small bears, medium bears, and big bears. We affectionately call the smallest ones the baby bears!

They are very small though and not typically appropriate for infants and toddlers — which makes this activity perfect! Once I put them into a sensory bottle, I handed them to my littlest one. She was in love at first sight, and I was able to offer her a chance to safely play with the baby bears.

***If you need help determining what is safe for an infant or toddler, you can use this small object tester. It’s what I have used in my classroom for children under three to determine if I can have it out on a shelf or need to put it away.

Materials:

Baby Bear Counters
Hair Gel
Wide lid sensory bottle

These cute baby bears do not fit into a typical water bottle. Their arms won’t let them in. We used spice containers that I found at a thrift store. You could also use a VOSS water bottle which is 500ml or 16.9 oz. I write about all the places you can find them in my post How to Make a Perfect Sensory Bottle.

Hair gel we get at the dollar store.

And Bear Family Rainbow Counters are available through Amazon or school supply stores.

Simply put in some hair gel then push a counting bear down where you want it. I used a plastic knife to help position it. For more detailed instructions about positioning objects in a discovery bottle with hair gel, you can read through my Suspended Ocean Creature Discovery Bottle.

Slow Falling Rainbow Bear Sensory Bottle

The slow falling rainbow bear sensory bottle is similar to a calm down jar. We used the medium sized bears in these, but you could use any size! Keep in mind that you need a 500ml or 16.9 oz VOSS bottle or another wide lid container to fit the bears in!

The bears gently flow from the bottom to the top and vice-versa when you flip them over!

Materials:

Bear Family Rainbow Counters
Corn Syrup
Wide lid sensory bottle

If you have never bought corn syrup before, it is near the syrups at the grocery store or in the baking aisle. The one I use is clear.

Make sure your counting bears are super clean! Otherwise you will grow undesirable things in this sensory bottle. Ewwww. We sanitized all of our bears before making these sensory bottles.

Just put the bears into your container, then pour the corn syrup over top of it. The corn syrup may look swirly at first, but it will become nice and clear after it settles in your container.

Big Bears Sensory Bottle

Last but not least is the easiest sensory bottle used with the biggest counter bears!

Materials:

Bear Family Rainbow Counters
Water
Wide lid sensory bottle

To make this sensory bottle, all you need is counter bears and water! It’s super quick and easy! I like this one because it is simple, and it even seemed to magnify the bears. They look huge in the bottle!

Now here are more amazing rainbow bottles to look through:

Simple Rainbow Calm Down Jars | Lemon Lime Adventures

Rainbow Pipe Cleaner Sensory Bottle | Mom Inspired Life

Rainbow Button Sensory Bottle | Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tail

Pot of Gold Discovery Bottle | Sunny Day Family

Friendship Thread Calming Sensory Bottle | Sugar Aunts

Rainbow Galaxy Sensory Bottle | Rhythms of Play

Glitter Jars in a Rainbow of Colors | Fun-A-Day

Rainbow Alphabet Sensory Bottle | Modern Preschool

Rainbow Polka Dot Discovery Bottle | Still Playing School

About
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Katie

Creator at Preschool Inspirations

Katie has spent 15 combined years in the Early Childhood field as a teacher, preschool owner, and educational speaker. She has worked in profit and non-profit programs, high-risk schools, as well as her in-home preschool. Parenting and homeschooling fill her days now with her three children in Phoenix.