I Spy Bottle: An anywhere, anytime boredom buster

Many years ago, when my son was little, I made him an I spy bag. This bag was a life saver in many cases. We used it when we went to the doctors office, in the car, or any other time that we needed him to be quietly entertained. So when I was looking for something to help keep my daughter busy, an I spy bag came to mind. An I spy bag is an anytime, anywhere boredom buster for kids of all ages. It’s great for learning, long car rides, or just for fun. I also wanted to make one for her preschool class, but I wanted something a little more resilient for all those little hands to play with. For this reason, I decided to go with a plastic bottle. Not only is this I Spy Bottle resilient, it was much quicker to make this way.

To make an I Spy Bottle you need:

• plastic bottle (I like these, or Art from Michael’s, but you can also use a water bottle VOSS is a great brand for projects like this)
• trinkets
• poly pellets or rice
• super glue
• twine or ribbon
• clear packing tape
• a printed picture of you trinkets laid out like in the image below. (I think a 3×3 picture is a wonderful size)
• scissors
• hole punch

To begin, you need to pick an idea for your theme. Your theme will determine what kind of trinkets you will need. There are several themes to choose from:

I Spy Bottle Themes

• ABC’s – your trinkets can be strictly letters OR letters and something that starts with that letter (A – Apple, B – Bible) I love these letters (and they come in a set of 10 alphabet sets), but you can also use letter beads like these or these. Also look on Etsy for things like these.

“This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.

• Colors – your trinkets will reflect different colors and they can look for something red, blue, green, etc. Or you can find the green tractor, orange basketball, blue crayon… You can get, beads, button, mini Christmas ornaments, or look on Etsy for things like this

• shapes – teach shapes with these buttons, or gems, or again look on Etsy as they have some cute trinkets

• Miscellaneous items – use things found around the house (paperclips, coins, brads, beads, mini clothespins, safety pin, dice noodles, etc.)

Other theme ideas:

• Numbers
• Things that go
• Farm Animals
• Food & Drink
• Dinosaurs
• Ocean Life
• Seasonal (fall, spring, winter, summer)

Now to Assemble Your Bottle

First, pick your theme. Second, collect all of your trinkets. Once you have them all put them in the bottle.

Third, fill your bottle with poly fill beads or rice leaving a couple inches at the top.

Next, screw the lid onto the bottle and shake it up…good….really good. You want the filler and the trinkets to be mixed all together. After they are mixed you may find that you want to add a little bit more filler. (NOTE: Don’t fill it too full or the objects won’t be able to spin around and then you will have trouble finding them)

Now, cut a piece of your string long enough to go around the neck of the bottle and hang just a little bit. Lay this string to the side for just a minute. Then, take your printed picture and cut it out. Use the clear packing tape to “laminate” the picture and punch a hole in one of the corners. Then tie your tag onto your bottle and then trim the excess string.

Next, unscrew the lid and put superglue around the top and the rim. Last but not least, screw the lid back onto the bottle and let set a few minutes for the glue to dry.

That’s it! Now play I spy and find the objects hidden in the bottle.

Looking for other boredom butsters?? Check out the links below for some fun, quick and easy things to do at home.