Thursday, August 6, 2009

Just Beachy


Thank you to those who were able to attend last months “beach in a bottle” activity. It was an eventful one to say the least. If you were not able to attend here is the recipe to make your own personal ocean from a 16 oz clear plastic bottle:

Step 1: Fill bottle with a little less than ¼ cup full of sand *


Step 2: Pick out 8-10 of your favorite mini seashells and add to the sand mixture



Step 3: Fill the bottle half way with pre-tinted water…not to dark as it will prevent you from seeing the shells and not too light because the sand could suck the color right out.


Step 4: (Optional) add a pinch or two of glitter and perhaps some fun fishy confetti



Step 5: Fill the bottle to the top with baby oil and you’re all set. Oh wait! I almost forgot; don’t forget to glue your lid with some high hold glue—we’re not mixing drinks here silly!


* I highly recommend forking out the cash for some high grade sand if you choose this as one of your ingredients for the project. Some of the bottles we created at the make became way too cloudy and mucky by using good old-fashion play sand.

One more thing, if you still have a few plastic bottles lying around the house, here are a few other projects I enjoyed making with my mom as a kid:

QUIET BOTTLE: Throw some light karo syrup in a bottle with a little glitter and sequence to keep the kiddies entertained for hours (or at least 5 minutes) as they watch the sugary syrup drip and droop in slow motion to the other end of the bottle as it’s tipped from side to side.

I SPY BOTTLE: If you have a handful of miniatures lying around, pop them into a bottle with some white rice to create an instant game of “I spy.” We have one we made with colored rice which works fine too. Remember, your miniatures don’t have to be doll house quality, think; penny, paperclip, button, small battery…or anything else you have lying around the house.

TORNADO TUBE: This one is great for kids of all ages. You will need 2 clear plastic bottles (you could go for the 2-liter bottles for this one), water, glitter, sequence, (or something of the sort) and a tornado tube, also called a cyclone tube or vortex tube, which can be found at your nearest teacher supply store or specialty toy store. In Denver try Timbuk Toys. You will fill one of the empty bottles with tinted water and the other ingredients of your choice. You will then connect the two bottle together vertically (openings together) with the tornado tube. Give your connected bottles a little twist and a tornado will form in a matter of seconds, turn it over and start again! You have probobly seen this trick but if not you can check out a video HERE.

Photography by Charissa Spendlove

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