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
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Great ideas!I can’t wait to make some sensory bottles.😍
Hooray!! I hope it goes wonderfully!!
How do you sanitize the bears before putting them in the bottles?
Hi Jennifer,
You can use a sanitizing spray (bleach solution, Thieves spray, vinegar water, etc.).
Enjoy!