Shake, Rattle 'n Roll...

Fun, easy, noisy, shaker bottles!

Inspired by the raving success of the 'little blue bottle with a spoon of rice in it', this is a sample of a collection of shakers I made over a couple of weeks - a bit here and there.

I think I must have been breastfeeding a fair bit still, when I collected lots of 1.25L (soda/mineral water) bottles*. ...By the way, pancake mix bottles - not so great on the waist, but the inbuilt handles are genius :-)

Washed, with the labels removed, I had a bit of fun putting random things inside to make the shakers more visually exciting. I tried to get the bottles to each make a different sound, and have items inside which moved about differently. They really did not need to be filled very much for a great effect.

1st birthday party

• Pipe cleaners
• glitter
• bells
• rice, lentils (different colours /types)
• balls of kitchen aluminum foil
• ribbon
• bits of wrapping paper
• tissue paper pieces
• straw wrapping ribbon
• shells
• sand
• old clothes pegs
• buttons
• paper clips
• keys
• beads (little animals, pearls, shapes)               
• ... whatever is handy  - there are no rules!!

So that the bottles looked a bit interesting in all positions, (and not just large empty space with a few bits on the bottom), I tried to use thing which were long, or attached a bit to the inside rims of the bottles so that the ribbons etc would dangle down. I also popped a number of bits in that are generally 'forbidden' (unsafe) for kids to play with - but can still be admired from outside the bottle!

Whilst it is definitely great for kids' visual development for their eyes to practise adjusting to black/white (high contrast) colours/patterns and lots of bright, even flourescent colours (as per most commercially available toys); I think it is also good to throw in some 'dirty', 'natural' shades too - other colours found in real life (straw, barley, sand, browns/beiges, olive greens, dark maroon reds etc...).

Pulling out a pile of these shakers has been a top success for play dates with other little kids too!

• dancing/singing to music
• rolling across the floor
• exploring the contents
• manipulating in, and swapping between hands
• choosing and sharing

Cautionary note: supervision advised to ensure the lids stay on - unless the lids are glued in place

* I know, I know, it's still just bubbly water, but served in a champagne glass, I'm sure I'm not alone in finding sparkling mineral water a bit more 'special' ;-) !!!
 

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to check these out from Kids' Play Space:
Discovery Bottles
New Toy of the Day - A Cardboard Box
Tummy Time Disco Magic 


Thanks for visiting Kids' Play Space!
happy playing!
'til soon,

Anna :-) 

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