Earlier this week I shared with you that I was taking part in the 6 Days of Sensory Play for Kids blog hop. Well we are down to the last couple of days and today I’m back to share with you on the topic of Auditory Sensory Play. Today it’s all about what we hear! Sound bottles are a fun and an oh – so- easy way to drum up a little auditory sensory activity for baby. I have made them for all my babies and they never disappoint.
Babies aren’t the only ones who enjoy sound bottles. Toddlers and preschoolers will have just as much fun making them as they will playing with them.
We’ve made a variety of sound bottles over the years with the most recent being these. I aquired these little mini juice containers and instantly knew they would be perfect for little hands to hold and shake.
Making sound bottles is very simple. All you need are some smallish empty bottles (think small juice bottles, water bottles etc) and some filler. We used rice, un-popped popcorn, split peas and beans. Other ideas: beads, buttons, dried pasta, seeds, or even sand. The idea being to put something different in each one so your child has a variety of sounds to compare and contrast. Fill the bottles to varying degrees with your chosen fillers and then hot glue the caps on. I always hot glue the caps on any sensory bottles we make to help minimize the risk of a child getting the cap off and getting at any materials that pose a choking hazard. Regardless, kids are crafty and although I’m sure I don’t have to say it I will anyway. Supervise, supervise, supervise.
A couple of thoughts on the bottles you choose. We used these juice bottles which are a little opaque. I like them for their smaller size and shape. Using water bottles that you can see through would add a whole other sensory element (ie. visual) that you may not get otherwise so that’s something to consider. It’s really all personal taste (and perhaps what you happen to have on hand).
When E was a bit younger (7-10month old) these sound bottles were his absolute most favorite toy. He would play with them daily! They earned a permanent home in basket of daily go-to toys. Now that he’s a little older (15months) he still loves them and we dig them out occasionally when we play with music. They now reside in our music basket. Both E and Mr. C (almost 3yrs old) will play with them while we sing songs, march around the house or have a dance party 🙂 I love it when a low cost DIY toy like these gets so much love and use in our house.
This post is part of the 6 Days of Sensory Play For Kids Blog Hop hosted by Sensory Activities for Kids. You can find our previous post in the series HERE.
Each day from June 1st – June 6th a group of fabulous kid bloggers will be sharing some amazing ideas for all types of sensory play. (I know most of these ladies and trust me you won’t want to miss a thing). This is sure to be fun! You can see a list of all the blogs participating along with all the topics being covered by clicking on the image below. You can also read a little more about the what’s and why’s of sensory play there too.
I have used the small water bottles for many things in my preschool-3’s classroom. If using them for this activity one needs to remember that children can squeeze the bottle and make it “crinkle,” giving a sound you hadn’t considered when making the original sound bottle.