These DIY Toddler Sensory Bottles are a fun, easy craft for toddlers that encourage learning and curiosity.

Last updated February 2023

After a few rainy summer days, I finally decided to try and make a couple of sensory bottles for my boys.

I honestly don’t know why I didn’t think to make these sooner! My boys are so mesmerized by them!

If you’ve ever googled them, you may notice that some people refer to them as ‘calming’ sensory bottles and I have to say, they really do work well as a way to calm the boys down when they’re wired!

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Sensory bottles are relatively easy to make and you could use items that you may already have at home.

While you can totally use any bottle or container that you have around the house, I decided to go with the plastic VOSS water bottles.

It was super easy to remove the VOSS sticker and I like the size and overall aesthetic of this bottle.

Here is what I used to make our sensory bottles:

Water Bottles

Food Coloring

Glitter

(Mineral Oil) Baby Oil

Water Beads

I decided to make two types of sensory bottles. The first was a water and oil-based ‘galaxy’ bottle.

The second was a more colorful ‘rainbow’ sensory bottle that I made using these and water only instead of oil and water.

Using a combination of liquids to make your sensory bottles will provide your little one with a different sensory experience every time. 

So I encourage you to mix it up!

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For our ‘galaxy’ sensory bottle, I filled the bottle 3/4 of the way with water and filled the rest of the way (right before the neck of the bottle) with baby oil.

Then I added silver, black, purple, and blue glitter. I found these cute little glitter packs in Walmart in their craft section and they were perfect for this!

For the second sensory bottle, I filled 1/4 of the bottle with water beads.

Next, I added water to fill the rest of the bottle along with red food coloring and silver glitter. 

In retrospect, I think I would have made this bottle minus the food coloring. The color of the water beads would have been a lot more vibrant that way.

Thankfully, the boys didn’t mind and loved shaking it up to watch the water beads sink to the bottom.

These DIY Toddler Sensory Bottles were a huge hit with my boys and I’m sure your little ones will love them too!

Have you ever made DIY sensory bottles?

If so, what types of objects did you put inside?

I’m always looking for new ideas!

-Kermilia