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Ocean Creature Sensory Bottle

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July 12, 2015 by Katie T. Christiansen 13 Comments

Take a look at this ocean beauty! Yes, the sea creatures are actually staying suspended!! Did I mention that this discovery bottle was so easy to make!?!

Ocean Creature Discovery and Sensory Bottle

Ocean Creature Sensory Bottle

 

I definitely can’t take credit for this gorgeous sea creature sensory bottle. My friend, Cathy, made one for her preschool class as part of her preschool curriculum and snapped a photo for me. I told her I had to make one of my own, and I asked her if I could share it with you all.

Here are some more views of the ocean blue goodness.

Make an ocean creature discovery bottle where the creatures stay in place | Preschool Inspirations

Make an ocean creature discovery bottle where the creatures stay in place | Preschool Inspirations

This is by far my favorite ocean themed creation!

Make an ocean creature discovery bottle where the creatures stay in place | Preschool Inspirations

Here’s how you can make your own (thank you, Cathy!!!)

This post contains affiliate links of products I love and use on a regular basis

Materials

  • Voss Plastic Bottles or any other kind — I bought mine at the grocery store but you can read about all the place to find them or other bottles you could use on my post about How to Make a Perfect Sensory Bottle.
  • TOOB ocean creatures, coral reef set, baby sea creatures, or shark set.
  • Skewer or stick-like item to get the sea creatures exactly where you want them
  • Hair Gel — mine is from the dollar store
  • Blue liquid watercolor (optional)

Make an ocean creature discovery bottle where the creatures stay in place | Preschool Inspirations

Don’t make my mistake!!! The hair gel in this photo is much too blue for the entire bottle!! Use a very light color blue for most of the bottle, and you can use the dark blue for the bottom.

Create the Bottle

  1. Mix the hair gel with a tiny bit of blue liquid water coloring in a plastic bag, or you can leave it clear. The first time I did this I made it way too dark, but I did end up using the dark for the bottom, which made it look more realistic. Err on the side of less is more is my advice for the rest of the discovery bottle! You can always add more blue to the bag if you need it.
  2. Cut a corner of the bag with the blue hair gel, and squirt a small amount of gel into the water bottle.
  3. Add a creature, and adjust it with the skewer.
  4. Add more hair gel then more ocean creatures.
  5. To make mine I used dark blue at the bottom and lighter blue all the way up.

Make an ocean creature discovery bottle where the creatures stay in place | Preschool Inspirations

Next, we decided to put it on the light table. Here’s how gorgeous they looked there!

Make an ocean creature discovery bottle where the creatures stay in place | Preschool Inspirations

I am so glad we made this, and there will be hours upon hours of fun with it!

Make an ocean creature discovery bottle where the creatures stay in place | Preschool Inspirations

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Follow Katie | Preschool Inspiration’s Discovery Bottles board on Pinterest.

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Katie T. Christiansen
Creator at Preschool Inspirations
Katie has spent 17 combined years in the Early Childhood field as a teacher, preschool owner, and educational writer. She has worked in profit and non-profit programs, high-risk schools, and started an in-home preschool and outdoor collaborative preschool program. She adores being a mom to three children, and her youngest is currently in preschool.
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Filed Under: Discovery Bottle, Ocean Tagged With: ocean unit, preschool nature, preschool science, science center

Comments

  1. shaiba says

    July 15, 2015 at 1:11 pm

    very beautiful . its looks real… thank you.

    Reply
    • Katie says

      July 15, 2015 at 2:43 pm

      I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for the sweet comment, Shaiba :).

      Reply
  2. jaime@FSPDT says

    July 24, 2015 at 10:31 pm

    Just love this:)

    Reply
    • Katie says

      July 25, 2015 at 2:48 pm

      Me too!!! Cathy is brilliant! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Pat says

    April 18, 2018 at 9:57 am

    do your fish move or do they stay in place? If shaken does the water all become one color?
    thanks

    Reply
    • Katie says

      April 22, 2018 at 7:15 pm

      They generally stay in place. And eventually the gel does become one color, but it does take awhile.

      Reply
  4. Di says

    May 5, 2019 at 2:24 pm

    Using hair gel how long did it last? A short time, still working how old etc. Reason I ask is I have seen some use sanistier.

    Reply
    • Katie T. Christiansen says

      May 5, 2019 at 5:03 pm

      Hi Di! Mine has lasted years and is still being used. It’s the sensory bottle that keeps on giving :). I hope this helps!

      Reply
  5. Di says

    May 12, 2019 at 1:29 pm

    Wow hair gel, now I have heard of baby oil, liquid hand lotion, Karo syrup. The list just keeps going.

    Reply
  6. Yasmin says

    December 9, 2020 at 5:21 am

    Hi Katie … thank you for all the information on sensory bottles. I am hoping to make some myself, and it’s my first time . You have given me an intensive insight in the sensory bottle making . The ocean sensory bottle looks awesome!! I want to try and make it . I will have a look at the other sensory bottles too, there are a lot of great ideas on here.

    Reply
    • Katie T. Christiansen says

      December 9, 2020 at 8:26 pm

      Enjoy Yasmin! They are so fun :).

      Reply
  7. Peggy Goerlitz says

    May 25, 2021 at 10:31 am

    Will a cheapo water bottle do? Or does it need to be a thicker material?

    Reply
    • Katie T. Christiansen says

      May 25, 2021 at 10:40 am

      Hi Peggy,
      Great question! It seems like bottles with wide openings work best for this or else the creatures might not fit inside of it. I tend to use the cheaper bottles for sensory bottles with light and small objects (like waterbeads or beads). I hope this helps!

      Reply

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I'm Katie, and I'm a veteran preschool teacher, child development research junkie, and mom of three who lives on little sleep and turns my kitchen into an art and science laboratory.

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