# Ocean in a Bottle
> Tint water ocean-blue in an empty plastic bottle, then add backyard 'ocean stuff' like stones, sand, grass and leaves, plus a sprinkle of glitter. Tape the lid shut for a mini ocean to look at, and decorate the outside with hand-drawn fish.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/ocean-in-a-bottle/
- Ages: 3–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep 5 min, activity 30 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class · one batch serves about 1 kids
- Skills: ocean-life, nature-exploration, shapes-and-sizes, early-literacy, fine-motor
- Cautions: food-dye, ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- 1 piece Empty Gatorade or any plastic bottle, with lid (household)
- Water (household)
- Blue food coloring
- Glitter
- Duct tape
- Backyard 'ocean stuff': small stones, pebbles, sand, grass and leaves (household)
- Paper and crayons or markers (optional) (household)
- Library books about sea life and oceans (optional)

## Safety
- Small stones, pebbles and glitter are choking hazards. Supervise closely, especially with toddlers who mouth things.
- An adult should close the bottle and tape the lid securely with duct tape to avoid spills and keep small parts inside.
- Food coloring can stain hands, clothes and surfaces. Cover the table.
- Wash hands after collecting and handling outdoor stones, grass and leaves.

## Before you start
- Pick up a few library books about sea life and oceans.
- Rinse out an empty plastic bottle for each child.

## Steps
1. Read a book about sea life and oceans together and talk about what lives in the ocean.
2. Fill the plastic bottle with water.
3. Add a couple of drops of blue food coloring to make it ocean blue.
4. Walk around the yard and collect stones, pebbles, sand, grass and leaves that you think belong in the ocean.
5. Drop your ocean things into the bottle. If something doesn't fit, talk about why: is it too big?
6. Add a few sprinkles of glitter to give your ocean a shine.
7. Adult: close the bottle and tape the lid with duct tape to avoid spills.
8. Draw pictures of fish and stick them to the outside of the bottle.

## Tips
- Watch out moms, those little fingers can't stop with just a couple of drops of food coloring!
- Don't throw away the extra batches of blue water. Freeze them in sand toys or containers with different shapes for a new activity.
- Reading the book again sent Big S hunting for stones, pebbles, grass and leaves to mimic what she read. Boy, it was fun.
- 'This rock doesn't fit in.' We just stumbled upon that, and what a neat way to talk about shapes and sizes.
- No vacation plans? This is a 'journey to the beach' right from home.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2012)

This summer “beat the heat” quite literally means “ staying at home” for us. We don’t have any vacation time or plans to take one. Living on a budget here people . So, we came up with an idea to do some “journey to the beach” from right here at home . Sounds crazy ? Well that’s just what we did ! A trip to the library and we were well underway on our project. A few books about sea life and oceans got Big S all excited. Big S : ( Squealing….) Mooooom look , an Octupus lives in the ocean ! There are some yucky plants too ! ( well, can't say I disagree that seaweed picture was ‘yucky’) Me: (All Excited Tone) Lets make an Ocean . We’ll call it ‘Ocean in a Bottle’ Big S : ( Disappointed face) In a bottle??? What are you saying? You are a silly goose ! Now, what do you say to that? With Lil’ S down for her afternoon nap, we found some good backyard time just for ourselves.

1. An empty Gatorade/any plastic bottle .
2. Blue food coloring
3. Glitter
4. Duct tape

A couple of drops of blue to the water to make it look like ocean blue. Now watch out moms, those little fingers can't stop with just a couple of drops ! Don’t throw away the extra batches you made, freeze them up in sand toys or any containers with different shapes for a new activity. Coming back to our Ocean adventure, with the ocean blue in the bottle now its time to fill it up with ocean stuff. Big S : Set sail ! we are going to our backyard. ( She pulls out a day lilly ) Does this go in the bottle? Hmmm, well , lets see ! We read the book again! Walking around the house, Big S collected stones, pebbles, grass and some leaves to mimic what she read and boy it was fun. Big S : Mommy this is so much fun. This rock dosen’t fit in. Now, we just stumbled upon that. What a neat way to talk about shapes and sizes. The idea is for them to find objects that they think belongs in the ocean. A few stones to mimic rocks, sand and grass for sea weed . She drew pictures of fish and stuck it to the outside ! Called it her big Whale.   Mission accomplished. A few sprinkles of Glitter to give a shine, close the bottle and tape it to avoid splills. Well, now I really need a beach vacation !