A glue gun opens up a world of possibilities. Now that I own one, I’m kicking myself for waiting this long to have one. For my first glue gun project, I made some discovery bottles.

DIY Toys Discovery Bottles Lessons Learnt Journal

It’s so simple. All I needed to do was fill up empty drink bottles with whatever I could think of and find, then glue the lid on.

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The first bottle is filled with blue car wash, some cooking oil and some marbles. I was curious to see how the car wash and cooking oil would react to each other. They do mix and the resulting liquid is very thick and sluggish. The marbles are hard to spot through the opaque liquid but that makes it all the more fun to play with. N & M think that the marbles are sharks eggs.

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The second discovery bottle is filled with green water, (coloured with green food dye). I popped some googly eyes, marbles and beads in there and the combination makes for a rattly bottle. This bottle is E’s favourite because he can shake things up and make a ruckus. M is convinced that the marbles are frogs eggs. He loves this bottle.

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The last discovery bottle is filled with the left over  glue from our bird in the cage craft. There wasn’t enough glue to fill the bottle so I added some water to the mix and the resulting liquid is fascinating. The glitter, sequins and beads I placed in the bottle clumps with the glue and if you leave the bottle untouched for awhile it settles in one spot. Then when you tip it around the glitter, beads and sequins move around like the coloured bits of a lava lamp. If you shake it around profusely it becomes a bottle of glittery goodness.

N takes the bottles and brings another element of play to it. He pretends they are light sabres. They are the right colours for it after all.

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N & M: 3 years, 4 months
E: 15 months

Lessons Learnt Journal

This post was shared in the following Linky Parties:

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No Time for Flash Cards Link & Learn

It’s Playtime

About the author

Pauline Pauline & Lessons Learnt Journal is all about life with kids. Pauline is an Aussie mum and teacher who shares her love for play, math games, writing and reading activities. She believes that #playmatters, values curiosity & wonder, wisdom, obedience and respect. She also needs naps. When not blogging, she may be found virtually hoarding on Pinterest, trying to decide which Instagram filter to apply, or compulsively refreshing her Facebook feed.