One of our favorite patriotic activities for kids is this patriotic discovery bottle that I made with my preschooler.
The discovery bottle is calming and contains nothing that is unsafe for kids to touch and handle. Young kids who are too little for sparklers and other firecrackers will love celebrating with this discovery bottle instead.
Even if your kids are old enough for real fireworks, they will still enjoy watching the mesmerizing fall of the glitter in this fun sensory bottle!
You’ll also want to check out out summer STEM activities and summer science experiments!
What is a Discovery Bottle
A discovery bottle is like a secret hidden world inside a bottle. The liquid in the bottle is hidden by something (in this case glitter) and there are fun objects to discover inside.
Discovery bottle can be used to practice counting, colors, object identification, letters, and a whole lot more things depending on what you put inside the bottle.
We put star erasers in ours for my preschooler to find as she played with the bottle.
As a bonus, this discovery jar works as a calm down jar to help keep over-active brains occupied.
Making the Patriotic Discovery Bottle
Follow these directions to make your very own patriotic discovery bottle. In just a few minutes, you’ll have your own patriotic plaything that kids will love to watch over and over again.
How to Make a Patriotic Discovery Bottle
Follow these directions to learn how to make your own discovery bottle filled with red, white, and blue colors perfect for the 4th of July!
Discovery bottle supplies:
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Patriotic Discovery Bottle Directions
Follow these easy directions to make a patriotic sensory bottle.
Fill your bottle about half way with corn syrup and the rest full of water. The more corn syrup you put in, the slower the glitter will fall. Put the lid on and shake it all up.
Add a bunch of red, silver, and blue glitter. Add less blue glitter than the other colors as it tends to dominate for some reason.
Drop in some star erasers.
Add a bit of dish soap to the top of the bottle. This encourages the glitter to sink rather than sit on the surface of the water.
Add a bit of glue to the brim of the cap and screw it on tightly. Make sure the glue is dry before giving it to your little ones to play with so they don’t spill sticky glitter everywhere.
Watch the discovery bottle in action!
