Treasure Bottle

Developing language through exploration.

Materials Needed:
• Clean, dry water bottles
• Funnel
• Sand (colored or plain)
• Small Treasures (golf tee, wooden beads, birthday candles, pom poms, buttons, etc – use materials with names that may be new to your child)

Activity:
Using your funnel, add about ¼ cup of your sand to the water bottle. Add a few of the treasures to the bottle. Pour more sand on top and add a few more treasures. Keep layering your water bottle until it is about 75% full (need room to shake and move the sand and treasures around). Cap the bottle and seal with duct tape, to avoid any spills or potential choking hazards, as the treasures are small items.

As children play with the bottle, model for them to shake the bottle and see what treasures pop up onto the surface as the sand moves around within the bottle. As each treasure appears on the surface, ask the child what they have found and what they think the item is. Encourage enhanced vocabulary words by expanding on the description of each item and introducing new words to your child.

Older children may also enjoy helping to create the bottle (with adult supervision), while younger children will enjoy the finished product.

Domain:
Language Development

Skills Learned:
Language, vocabulary, observation skills, cognitive development