The PreK classroom at All About Children childcare center is learning about the letter "U" this week so, in honor of summer quickly approaching, they made ocean themed "U"nderwater sensory bottles! The kiddos had a blast exploring the various materials before placing them in the bottle as well as learning about some of the animals that call the ocean home!

Materials

empty bottles

sand {add a little glitter to the sand for a bit more fun!}

water, dyed blue

small seashells

ocean animal foam cut-outs

Assembling the Bottles

Assembly is pretty simple. Add the materials, twist on the cap, and play! The teachers at All About Children did have a few suggestions though...

If you don't have a 'funnel' of sorts, adding the sand and water to the bottle can be a bit of a disaster! We found that snow cone papers worked really well as funnels!

It can be easy for the younger set to get carried away during hands-on activities. Do the activity together - i.e. create steps and have students complete each step, waiting on their friends to finish and for help if needed, before moving onto the next step. We found the following order - sand, animals, water - as well as taking breaks in between each step to discuss the elements, helped students to slow down and focus. This, in turn, helped prevent messes!

Once the bottles are assembled, have an adult twist the cap back on. [IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure lids are securely fastened before turning the kids loose. They really like to shake things up!]