Though she’s not yet two, our toddler got sent home from school with homework this week.

Every family in A’s room at school got two empty water bottles in their cubby and marching orders to make a pair of discovery bottles. The new bottles made by families would replace the worn out ones the kids were currently playing with.

I browsed around for some ideas and saw lots of cool bottles out there: shampoo and marbles, water and oil, liquid soap and water, corn syrup and glitter. These look cool, but we ended up going in another direction. First, I wouldn’t want to clean up a broken bottle filled with any of those things and I’m just watching one kid, and, second, this is obviously a competition for most creative parent and anyone can make what they find on the internet.

I used some supplies on hand and spent about $4 at the dollar store for the other items I needed, like the ornaments I used in the garden bottle. Both took less than ten minutes, including A. “helping” me with one.

Here’s what we came up with:

1. Mice in the Grass

Green shredded paper or Easter grass
Three small mouse catnip toys

Stuff the Easter grass and mice into the bottle, adding a few handfuls of grass between each mouse so they are distributed. Sear the cap with glue.

2. Garden I-Spy Bottle

White rice
Vinegar
Green Food Coloring
Small ornaments or erasers

Dye rice using your preferred method. (Need a tutorial? Try this one. Couldn’t find my usual “recipe”, so I found this via Google. It was the first time I used the oven dry the rice and it worked really well and helped me finish super-quick. I always use vinegar to make it as baby-safe as possible in case anything is ingested.) Layer the rice in the bottle, spreading out your ornaments between scoops of rice. I used carrot ornaments, but originally thought I had flower erasers on hand. Either would work! Leave about 1.5 inches empty at the top of the bottle so there is room for the rice to move around. Seal the cap with glue.

A. is super excited to share them at school on Monday. I like the bright, Spring green colors! What do you think?

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