Color Mixing Sensory Bottles

In my quest for baby and toddler friendly activities, I came across a few posts for sensory bottles. Over the year I’ve made plenty of these and knew this would be a hit for my tiny BFF’s.

Yes, those are mini wine bottles and yes I’m aware how it might be inappropriate, but they are tiny and plastic two important elements in a sensory bottle!

Sensory bottles can include a wide range of themes. I’ve made galaxy bottles for space units, I spy bottles for road trips, and glitter bottles for soothing babies during tummy time.

Today we’re working on our color mixing skills!

You’ll Need:

Small Plastic Bottles in the Same Size
Mineral Oil
Gel Food Coloring
Water
Funnel
Bowls and Spoon for Mixing
Hot or Super Glue

It’s important to use mineral oil since it is clear and will take on the color you want. Gel food coloring is important as well because it mixes with the oil to give us the desired color!

Decide how many color bottles you want to make. I chose to make three bottles using primary colors that would mix together to make secondary colors.

First up you’ll need to add mineral oil to your clean bottles.

From there you will add the gel food coloring of your choice. There aren’t measurements here, you can eyeball it until you get a color you like.

Put the lid on and shake to allow the food coloring to mix. You might notice it clumping but that will go away once you add water.

Once you’ve got the base colors in all your bottles, it’s time to mix up your colored water portion.

Add gel food coloring to a bowl, add water and mix.

I again chose primary colors to add to the top of my mineral oil.

After the water portion is finished you’ll need your funnel to add the colored water to your colored oil.

If the colored water you mixed doesn’t fill the bottle you can add plain water to the top, it will mix! Make sure to leave some room at the top so your little can shake it back and forth!