Under the Sea Discovery Bottle

We’re nearing the end of our Under the Sea Week for Storybook Summer this year and today we are welcoming Natasha from TinyTots adventure to share a fun and easy discovery bottle with us – so over to Natasha.

I have been spending a lot of time with this popup book The Very Silly Shark written by Jack Tickle because my girls want me to read it to them every morning, night and sometimes during the day, and I can understand why. In this popup book you learn about some of the sea creatures of the ocean.

After reading this for the second week daily, I thought that making a discovery bottle for the girls to play with while in the tub when I read this book again would be a great idea. It turned out to be a hit. Too big of a hit because I only made one and I have two little girls who don’t know how to share. (I guess I should make another one.) They are super simple to make and you might have everything in your house right now. 

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Materials needed for Under the Sea Discovery Bottle

• Clear plastic bottle
• Sea creatures Toob (I got mines from Hobby Lobby)
• Blue food coloring
• Knox gelatin
• Boiled water 2 cups
• Cold water
• Silver and blue glitter
• Gorilla glue (optional if you don’t plan on reusing the sea creatures)

Directions for making an Under the Sea Discovery Bottle

1. Add your gelatin to your bottle. (if using a 2 liter then use the whole pack if using a smaller bottle like a 20oz then a little less than half)
2. Now add the boiled water and cap off and shake it up until that gelatin dissolves
3. Add some cold water or ice cubes to cool it a little but don’t fill it up just yet
4. Add glitter, sea creatures and blue food coloring. (one drop goes a long way)
5. Fill the rest of the way with cold water, cap it up and shake to mix
6. Place in the fridge so the gelatin can set (works well if you leave it overnight)

When you remove the bottle from the fridge give it a good shake to loosen up the gelatin and shake the glitter around or you can let the kids do it and watch them as they get a kick out of it.

We used ours in the tub and then letter put it back in the fridge to get solid again and played with it outside in the sun and I promise that when the sun hits it and the glitter gets to shining you will be stuck looking and shaking it more than the kids.

They had fun finding the sea creatures and talking about how they move and what they ate. It seemed like each time I read about a creature they would shake the bottle and then find the creature. This was perfect to help them remember about each one of the sea creatures in the book.

We now have our discovery bottle sitting in front of one of our playroom windows. My preschooler comes down and opens the window every morning just so that she can watch the light shine through. So far we’ve had one good day where the sun shined through and you could see a blue tint in the room and that made them squeal and move around like the creatures in book and bottle.

You can also use blue or clear hair gel to make this discovery bottle. You will replace the 2 cups of hot water with the gel and you don’t have to place it in the fridge to set it. So that way it’s ready soon as your done making it. I like this one but my kids like the gelatin one more. The glitter and the items inside don’t settle quickly. To be honest the one we have has sat out for about two days right now and the glitter and creatures have not settled to the bottom yet.

Author

Cerys Parker

Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, teacher, mum, and home educator from the UK. She loves getting creative, whether it is with simple and easy crafts and ideas, activities to make learning fun, or delicious recipes that you and your kids can cook together you'll find them all shared here on Rainy Day Mum.