A treasure bottle is fun to make with your preschooler, and after the craft is finished, it’s a toy your child will enjoy playing with. You can also play games with the treasure bottle, so there are three worthwhile reasons to give it a try!
You will need:
Empty 24-ounce plastic soda bottle with a screw-on lid, cleaned and dried, with the label removed.
Craft sand
Glitter
Marbles or large rhinestones
Old costume jewelry
Small plastic toys or other “treasures”
Funnel
Glue
1. Put the funnel in the top of the bottle and pour in enough sand to fill the bottle about 1/3 full. Add about two teaspoons of glitter.
2. Add marbles, rhinestones, toys or whatever other treasures that fit through the lid of the bottle. About ten small objects is a good amount.
3. Squeeze some glue around the inside of the cap and seal tightly. This is so your preschooler doesn’t unscrew the lid and dump everything into his or her lap. Or on the cat. Trust me. Let the glue dry, and the treasure bottle is ready.
Your child will have fun searching for the treasures by rotating the bottle around. The sand will shift, covering some objects and revealing others.
Free play is the best thing to do with this toy, but you can turn it into a game with these ideas:
Ask your child to count each object he or she finds
Try to find all ten (or however many objects you put inside) in a certain amount of time
See how many objects you can get uncovered at one time
See how many objects you can get hidden at one time
Hide the bottle and draw your child a treasure map to find it