Winter Discovery Bottle

These discovery bottles have been around for a while - the basic idea is to take a clear glass bottle and fill it with something interesting for kids to play with.  I was fascinated when I saw this one where you cut up pieces of pipe cleaners and use a magnet to manipulate them.   I only had white pipe cleaners on hand because we were going to do some snowflake ornaments.  I decided that it could be a cute winter/Christmas themed bottle.  The pipe cleaners looked like snow, and I added a bunch of glitter.  I looked around for any tiny metal things that would be fun in the jar - mostly little bells and such.  I added a few red and green stars and trees for fun.

The boys have a blast playing with this, and even I find it to be somewhat addictive moving that magnet around and around.

I also like the peanut butter jar better than a water bottle or pop bottle.  The plasic is clearer and there is more space to manipulate the objects.

Two important notes:  you need a pretty strong magnet to manipulate them.  We didn't have a wand or anything strong enough, so we use a strong circular magnet that came off a fridge ornament.  The kids only use it with supervision and never when the youngest child is around.  Secondly, make sure you put glue around the rim of the bottle before putting the lid on, and let it dry for the recommended amount of time.