DIY I-Spy Bottle to Make for Kids

Make Your Own I-Spy Bottle for Kids

Directions

1. Take the label off of a water bottle.
2. Gather small objects or small toys from around the house. If you want to make a themed I Spy bottle you can find unique items at the dollar store.
3. Start by layering rice and small pieces until the bottle was a little more than 1/2 full.
4. Use a hot glue gun to add a little hot glue to the cap if you are worried about your child taking it off and emptying the contents of the bottle.
5. I used 6 objects; a sticker, game piece, crayon, small pom pom, paper clip, and a key.
6. Before I put them inside the bottle, I put the objects on our copier.
7. Then, I attached the picture of them to the front of the bottle with packaging tape.
8. For older children, a list of things would work instead of pictures and it could be a laminated card tied around the top instead of taped on.
9. The goal of the activity is for your child to move the rice around in the bottle to find the objects shown or listed.

At first, B was really concerned about getting his toys out of there instead of finding the objects. After a few more exposures, he really enjoyed it. He liked to race his dad and see who could find the objects first.

More I-Spy Bottle Ideas

This is a great project to do with your children. Gather different items together and layer them into the different bottles.

• Find Letters – Add small alphabet beads or stickers to rice.
• Search for Numbers – Number beads or stickers would work for this bottle.
• Hunt for Colors – All of the objects included could be one color or put make it a rainbow bottle with each of the different colors of the rainbow.
• Animal Hunt – Use animal beads from a craft store to find in the bottle.
• Letter Sounds – Find objects that all start with the same letter to go into one bottle.
• Find all of the items (without a list) and guess what they have in common. This is a challenge that older kids will love!
• Is it magnetic? Layer magnetic and non magnetic items in rice using a magnet to pull them to the top.
• Book Theme – Add objects that all go with your favorite book like Goodnight Moon.
• Holiday I Spy Bottle – Different holiday color themes or themed decorations would make this I-Spy bottle a hit.

This is a fun game for kids of all ages. It can be a fun quiet time activity or a game for children to play in pairs as they race to find the list of items.

I Spy Water Bag

Make an I Spy Water Bag for a different sensory experience. 

I-Spy Window

Use the front of a pasta box to make an I Spy window. We’ve used this to hunt for colors, letters, and even words. 

Christmas Ornament I Spy

At Christmas time, try an ornament I Spy activity! It only takes a few minutes to set up and it is fun to play. You can even have your kids take pictures with the ipad and challenge each other.