Bright Summer Sky Sensory Bottle

*** Thousands of infants and children have ended up in the hospital after ingesting water beads and many retailers are no longer selling them. I have removed my water bead product links out of an abundance of caution. ***

Update: I created this Bright Summer Sky Sensory Bottle a couple of years ago, and it still looks beautiful! I have added a new video and photos. If you are interested in my Sensory Bottle Light, you can find out how I made it here. 🙂

This is the second sensory bottle in my Seasons and Weather series. There are many things that come to mind when I think of summer, so it was hard to settle on one idea. One of my favorite things about summer is the sky. I love the beautiful contrast of the white clouds against the blue sky. The clouds in Colorado are different in summer, and seeing the puffy cumulus clouds is a sign to me that summer has arrived.

I had recently made a batch of water beads for the kids, and I wondered if I could use the blue water beads to create the summer sky. I have used water beads in sensory bottles before, and I have noticed that if we play with them before I make the sensory bottle, the beads usually end up getting moldy in the bottle and I have to throw it out after about a week. So, the first step was to make a fresh batch of water beads (and not let the kids get their grimy hands on them).

As the water beads grew, I formulated my plan for the Bright Summer Sky Sensory bottle. I wanted to try using cotton balls as clouds because I would be able to shape them as I desired. I knew that they would soak up the water in the water beads, causing the beads to shrink, so I would also need to add liquid to the bottle to keep the beads from shrinking. In working with water beads in sensory bottles previously, I had experimented with both oil and water. Oil created a neat shimmery/glistening effect, and water caused the outline of the beads to blur. I decided to use water because it would make the blue water beads appear seamless in the bottle.

Once the water beads were ready, I layered some in the bottle, added some water, and put in a few cotton balls. I used a long, thin wooden dowel to position the cotton balls the way I wanted, then added more water beads to keep them in place. I continued this method, adding water beads, water, then cotton ball “clouds” here and there, leaving a little bit of room at the top of the bottle.

Time to add the “sun”, a large yellow tinsel pom pom! The first time I tried this, I put the pom pom in and then filled in around it with the blue water beads. Unfortunately, the blue water beads obscured the “sun”, so I had to come up with another plan. I took out the pom pom and emptied the blue water beads from the top 1.5 inches of the bottle. I put in a layer of clear water beads, then added the pom pom and filled in around it with clear water beads. I finished it off by adding water to the top of the bottle. The clear water beads virtually disappear in water, so it looks like the sun is suspended above the blue sky and clouds.

I LOVE the way my Bright Summer Sky Sensory Bottle turned out! It doesn’t have any movement to it, but it is very pleasing to look at and it reminds me of a beautiful summer day.

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If you are interested in making a Summer Sky Sensory Bottle, here is what I used:

The links in this post contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your consideration.

• 16.9 oz Core Hydration water bottle – Target
• Water Beads
• Water
• Cotton Balls – Amazon
• Wooden Dowel – Target
• 1.25 inch yellow tinsel pom pom – Target
• super glue (for gluing the lid shut) – Amazon

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Thank you for checking out my Bright Summer Sky Sensory Bottle!

“Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”

Matthew 13:43

~ Sarah ~

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