I SPY Bottle Game

When I was a guest teacher (the school district's fancy way of saying substitute teacher) I saw a game that the teachers had made with a piece of material and a piece of clear vinyl. They made a little pouch and put random little things it with rice or beads. The kids got to squish it around looking for the objects that were in there. I think they called it I SPY. The kids either had to look for something particular or if several items were showing they could play I SPY with another student. I came up with my own idea to put it in a bottle. Later I found out that there are several companies out there that came up with the same idea and are selling them in catalogs and online! Here are some pictures of Parker making his I SPY bottle. I wanted to make it for our VERY LONG drive to Colorado this Christmas. It did a pretty good job of keeping him entertained! My mother-in-law and I looked everywhere for things that were small enough to fit through the bottle opening that would be fun for Parker to look for. She found some really neat buttons of airplanes, trucks, cars, etc. Thank you Tina for helping me with this! I put all the objects out on the table and let Parker pick out several of his favorites. I made a list of what went in the bottle and I'm going to laminate it and tie it to the top. That way I can say, "Look for a ..." or when he's older he can use it as a check list and try to find everything. In February I'm hosting this as a playdate at our house. I just found smaller bottles so I think I'm going to re-do the one Parker already made. The smaller size is better for little hands and it's a little easier to fit in the diaper bag. This is a great game for long car trips, waiting in the Dr.'s office, waiting in restaurants, etc. I will post more pics. after our play date!