DIY – I Spy Bottles

I was recently invited to a Busy Bag Party. In case you haven’t heard of that (I know I hadn’t) the host invites a certain number of people. There were 9 in our exchange (a WONDERFUL number to be able to buy/make in bulk without being too daunting!) Each person lets the host know what buys bag item (DIY reusable games/activities for preschool kids) they are making so there are no duplicates. Then each of you makes 9 projects. At the Busy Bag Party you swap so when you go homes you will have 9 different busy bag activities for your kids to play with – cool, right! I am so grateful to my host for the fun idea & my kids are LOVING all their new activities.

So on to my project – I made an I Spy Bottle! It was lots of fun to make and provides hours of entertainment. It is especially wonderful in the car!

First, we began saving my son’s Gatorade bottles from soccer practice – after all we needed 9!  They were a perfect size; water bottles would also work well although I found the plastic was not as tough. Meanwhile I went over to Michael’s to get some beads/buttons to put in the I Spy Bottles. You can get a pack of 10 for $1. So I got 8 different packs to put one of each in. I also put in a penny and a pom pom.  There are so many choices it might be fun to make a themed bottle!

Then I used a funnel to add colored rice (see my easy tutorial on how to make colored rice here). I put 1/4 cup of colored rice and then topped with 2-3 items. I layered the rice to look pretty for the initial presentation, but once the bottles get played with it will look different. Continue layering rice & items until you leave 1 1/2” at the top.

Here are all my I Spy bottles – aren’t they pretty =-)

Finally, I attached the ‘instructions’ by using a hole punch and looping a rubber band through the hole and around the bottle. The first card (left) tells you what it is & how to play. The next 10 cards show a picture of what you are looking for and the I Spy Game magnifying glass in the corner (in case they ever got separated). I made the cards with my scrapbook software and laminated all the cards.

My super creative sister has made I Spy Bottles for each season using different mediums than rice. You might also try colored fusion beads, sand, salt, fake snow, colored water, hair gel, rocks, darker grain, spices, etc.  The possibilities are endless as are the hours of fun your kiddos will have with them!