Fun with Food Sensory Bottles

I was doing some "spring cleaning" last week when I found these breastmilk storage containers given to my by my sister-in-law soon after I delivered JS about five years ago. I have stopped breast feeding for more than a year now and these containers have been in the storage drawer since then. I thought they would make good storage for spices but as soon as I took them downstairs JS saw them and asked me what I wanted to do with the containers. Hmmm... no harm letting the children play with the containers first, I thought and so they became food sensory bottles.

The first item that came to mind was adzuki beans but as we entered the kitchen, my phone rang so I told JS to put in some garlic cloves instead (the first food I saw in the kitchen) as I answered the phone. He happily filled two containers with garlic cloves and also put an onion each in two other containers. Then I took adzuki beans, mongo seeds and black beans from the fridge and he filled the rest of the containers with them. 

Here are some of the activities we did with the food sensory bottles. 

1. Identifying the items in the bottles. Since JE is still very young and tend to put things in her mouth, the best way to expose her to tiny objects is through sensory bottles. She gets to look at them, shake and hear the sounds they make and learn the names of these common foods. 

2. Arranging them in different shapes. 

3. Learning the meaning of "same" and "different". Surprisingly and sadly, I have to admit that JS still does not know the meaning of these two and I have to find different ways to teach him and hopefully this could help. 

4. The last game we played was the guessing game. I did not get to take any pictures for this since I played an active part in this game. I would hold one of the bottle behind me and shake it. JS would have to guess the item in it.