I Spy Bottles

The next few weeks will feature crafts recycling the good old plastic bottle. Not junky crafts either! Just really good ones.

When my fourth daughter was born in 2000 our neighbor brought over a bag full of gifts for the baby and the other girls. Inside the bag was an I Spy Bottle for each of them, including the baby! My girls were thrilled when our seventy-five year old neighbor told them how her mother made this same game for her when she was a little girl. Back then they had to use glass jars as plastic wasn't around. Ours have seen many years of service (can you tell by how beat up they are?). We have made them as well-received gifts. They are perfect for keeping in the car to keep the littlies occupied on long car trips.

Here's what you need:
*1 empty plastic water bottle per person (or at least three)
*Bird seed - works much better than beads do because the whole bottle is clear. It makes it harder to spot the objects.
*Twenty to Thirty different small objects like colored beads, a penny, dime, nickel, quarter, pom poms, etc. Make sure you have matching items for each bottle so you can play the game properly.
*Super Glue
*Master list of items to attach to each bottle
*clear packing tape
*funnel (or rolled up piece of paper)

Put the various objects into the bottle and then use the funnel to fill the rest of the bottle with bird seed leaving at least two inches of airspace. Put super glue all around the inside edges of the lid and screw the lid on tight. Set aside to dry while you fill up the other bottles. Tape the master list on the side of each bottle making sure you completely cover all the paper so it can't get ripped off.

To play:
Everyone shakes their bottles while someone calls out an object to find, say a dime. Stop shaking your bottle, look hard by slowly turning the bottle around and around, and try to be the first to spot the object. This game is great because it puts everyone on a level playing field. No skill is involved except a keen eye.

Here's the master list we have on ours:
golf tee
birthday candle
ladybug (foamie)
pink pompom
penny
dice
wood plug
nickel
red button
green bean (dried bean painted green)
safety pin
paper clip
dime
green button
yellow bead
purple bead
blue bead
pink bead
brad
baby bottle (little plastic baby shower favors)
heart button
balloon
bee button
crayon
jingle bell

One fascinating thing we've observed - all of the metal objects seem to congregate in the middle almost as if they are magnetized together. You can usually only see the edge of the coins. We've gotten very good at telling the difference between the dimes and nickels.

I've also made I Spy Bags like this to keep the littler ones quiet at church using beads instead of birdseed. I will be posting a tutorial on how to make them later.

For more fun activity ideas visit Scribbit's Winter Bazaar.