I Spy Shakers (Eyes)

My daughter came out of her nursery class at church yesterday with this little “I Spy” shaker that they had made. I thought it was such a great idea and when her older brothers both wanted a turn, I decided to try to make one. SO SIMPLE! My daughter’s class was using it to talk about EYES but I love it because you can use it for any letter week, any theme, any holiday. Just change up what you put inside to spy!

 

You can probably figure out how to make them, but here’s a quick tutorial and a couple of tips…

You’ll need:

• a clear plastic water bottle
• about 2 cups of rice (or small pasta noodles or popcorn kernels)
• glue
• several small objects to “SPY” inside

*this is where you can get creative … ex: all buttons of different colors for B week, everything red, white & blue for the 4th of July, all things starting with R for R week. You get the idea

1. Empty the water bottle.
2. Remove the label.
3. Let it dry completely inside.

4.    Use a small funnel. Or if you don’t have one like me, roll up a scrap piece of paper into a cone and tape it!

5.  Fill the bottle 1/4 full with rice.
6.  Drop several of the small objects inside

7.  Fill about 1/2 full and add more of the small objects.
8.  Fill about 3/4 full and add the rest of the small objects.
TIP! I found that it’s easier to shake and find the objects if it’s not completely full to the top with rice. Leave an inch or two of empty space at the top.




9. Seal the lid on by putting a thin ring of glue around the inside of the lid, then screw it on the bottle tightly. You don’t want the kids opening it and dumping the rice out!







10.  Make a label for your “I SPY” shaker and include a list of everything to look for inside. It would look even better printed out, but I was in a hurry with this one.
TIP! Make a list of all the items going inside before you put them inside
TIP! Take a picture of the items before putting them inside and put that on the label to make it a picture list for younger kids to “read” themselves.




11.  Tape the label around the bottle and secure with a long strip of packing tape all the way around (kind of laminates the label)

YOU’RE DONE!
It was easy enough for me to make so I’m excited to let my preschooler help make a few others to go along with our different letter themes throughout the year! Usually the making part is the most fun and the best learning experience