I love studying the ocean. And teaching it to children is so much fun because it’s almost like teaching them about a whole other world! It typically doesn’t take much to get students engaged in the ocean, ocean animals, beaches, tides, and all of the wonders of the sea. This DIY Ocean Animal Sensory Bottle for Preschoolers is made with the simplest ingredients. I love that this ocean sensory bottle can be so many things: a fun craft, a review of ocean animals, a calming sensory experience, or maybe just an ocean themed review of letters (depending on what you fill the bottle with)!
Sensory Activities for Preschoolers
OCEAN IN A BOTTLE
SENSORY BOTTLES AND SENSORY BAGS PROVIDE A WIDE RANGE OF LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES REGARDLESS OF THE THEME YOU CHOOSE.
Sensory activities for kids allow their brains to make deeper connections with the concepts they are exploring. One of the great things about sensory activities for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners is that you can easily adapt the content, skill, or theme.
I like to make this DIY ocean sensory bottle with children first, and then let them use it for exploration later. Going through the step-by-step directions is a science project in itself! Watch out for choking hazards when adding small beads to the water bottle if you are working with toddlers.
The preschool ocean sensory bottle can be used to learn names of ocean animals, or you can add letters or numbers to the bottle to make it more about literacy or math skills.
Once you make the ocean themed sensory bottle there are lots of types of play your child can engage in.
As your child is playing or exploring the ocean sensory activity, encourage thought by asking questions:
- How did you make the ocean sensory bottle?
- What kind of liquid did you put in the sensory bottle?
- Did you add solids to the liquid?
- What colors/animals/letters do you see?
- Can you find a ….(animal/letter/number)?
- Why did you put glue in the sensory bottle?
- How did you stop the sensory water bottle from leaking?
What Can Preschoolers Learn from Sensory Bottles?
BENEFITS OF SENSORY PLAY
SENSORY PLAY OFFERS A TON OF BENEFITS FOR A CHILD’S BRAIN, VOCABULARY, LANGUAGE, AND SKILLS.
Whether children explore in an ocean sensory bin, bottle, bag, or something else, sensory activities are important:
- Learn specific subject matter
- Increase vocabulary
- Stimulate language development
- Improve fine/gross motor skills
- Calming effect
Why Is It Important For Kids To Explore With Senses?
Besides the fact that kids love ocean sensory activities for preschool, there are many other reasons you should implement sensory play throughout the school year, regardless of the theme.
Develop Language
Sensory play is a wonderful way to encourage talking! It provides a context to promote interest in a specific subject and a hands-on experience to talk about.
Increase Brain Connections
The more senses that are engaged when a child is learning about a topic, the more neural connections will be made in the brain. Strong neural pathways set the stage for all future learning.
Improve Vocabulary
Theme-based sensory play is a great way to introduce children to subject specific vocabulary, like ocean names or ocean animal names.
Strengthen Motor Skills
Grabbing, pinching, folding, shaking, cutting, and turning (just to name a few) are actions necessary to build up gross and fine motor skills. Sensory play with play dough and other sensory material promotes all of that and more, depending on each specific activity.
“They loved this more than Play doh. I was amazed. “
I did this today with my daycare kids. They loved this more than Play doh. I was amazed. With it being too cold to go outside, this was great. Honestly they played for 1.5 hours and probably would of longer, but we had to get lunch ready. Thank you so much for this.
How To Make the DIY Ocean Animal Sensory Bottle
SUPPLIES:
- Plastic Bottle
- Clear Glue
- Sea Life Beads
- Bright Beads
- Water
DIRECTIONS:
- Pour the bottle of glue into the plastic bottle.
- Add the beads to the bottle.
- Fill the remainder of the bottle with water, leaving a small amount of space at the top. Do not overfill.
- Close the bottle and shake well.
NOTE: If you notice the bottle bubbling up, you can skim the bubbles off with a spoon and discard. Warm water mixes best with the glue.
Optional substitutions for glue include: baby oil, corn syrup
You can also add drops of food coloring or additional beads.
I Spy
Use the ocean sensory bottle as a fun way to spy all of the animals in the bottle. Take turns being the person who “spies” something.
Counting Practice
Get some counting practice in by finding and counting all of the red/blue/green fish, animals, or beads in the sensory bottle.
Create a Story
Use the objects in the bottle as a springboard for silly stories! Ever hear about the green whale that only ate broccoli?!
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