Calm down sensory bottles are soothing, visual tools designed to help kids cope with BIG feelings. The slow, mesmerizing motion of the contents inside calms their thoughts and centers them in the present moment. Calm down bottles are a perfect tool for emotional regulation, stress relief, and focus – and a must-have to keep in your Calm Corner Tool Box!
Materials Needed to Make Sensory Bottles:
To make sensory bottles, you will need:
- A disposable tablecloth
- Empty bottles
- Pitcher of warm water
- LOTS of glitter!
- Food coloring
- Clear Elmer’s glue (I used 1.5 of the quart-sized bottles to make 12 glitter bottles)
- Super glue
- Optional: any tiny toys or objects that you’d like to add
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How to Make Calm Down Bottles:
Before you get started, put down a disposable tablecloth. It makes clean-up super easy and contains all of the glitter!
Here is the step-by-step process to make sensory bottles. Spoiler alert: they’re super easy and quick to make!
Step 1: Pour in Warm Water
Fill a pitcher with warm water. Take the lids off of each bottle and pour warm water into each bottle until they are 3/4th full.
Step 2: Add Clear Elmer’s Glue
Pour into each bottle approximately 4 ounces of Elmer’s clear glue. We used 3 oz Dixie cups to help us measure the glue.
Step 3: Add Food Coloring
Choose which color food coloring you’d like to add to each bottle. Add 4-5 drops of food coloring into each bottle.
Step 4: Add Glitter
Choose which color glitter you’d like to put into each bottle. Then, pour an entire container of glitter into each bottle.
PRO TIP: Match the color of the glitter and the food coloring. If you mix dark glitter with light food coloring, or dark food coloring with light glitter, the light ingredient won’t show up well. Using blue glitter with blue food coloring, for example, creates a rich, vibrant blue bottle!
OPTIONAL Step 5: Add in Toys or Tiny Items
If you’d like, you may choose to add in tiny toys, school supplies, or other items to your bottles. Some fun suggestions are Legosβ’, colorful beads, holiday decorations, plastic stars, tiny cars, little animals, sequins, or pom poms. These add a fun personalized touch to the bottles!
My favorite bottle that we made had pieces of pencils inside. Perfect for a teacher or school counselor!
PRO TIP: If you choose to add in any special items, do not use dark glitter or food coloring in the bottle. Dark colors make it too difficult to see the items.
Step 6: Shake it!
And now the fun part! Shake it up and watch the magic happen!
Step 7: Super Glue the Lids
Super glue the lids onto each bottle. This will ensure that our pesky little friends won’t try to remove the tops (and make a big mess!)
I hope that this post offered you easy-to-follow directions on how to make your own sensory bottles. These are not only a great practical tool for children to use, but also a fun and easy craft project for small group counseling. If you make them, please tag me @musiccitycounselor on Instagram and Facebook, or comment on this post. I’d love to see what you create!
