Does your family use up a lot of water bottles? We do. But what can you do with water bottles besides recycle them? Here’s Water Bottle Fun in 5 Ways!
updated 5/6/2024
Between all six of us, we go through a lot of water. This means we also have a lot of empty water bottles. They can fill our recycle bin pretty quickly, so I like to find fun ways to reuse them.
Table of Contents
Water Bottle Bowling
Water Bottle Bowling is one of my preschooler’s favorite games. I refill empty water bottles, add a few drops of food coloring, and then we head outside. Sometimes when it’s raining, we’ll set it up in the living room, too. Molly just LOVES this game, and it’s just so easy and simple to make! We’ve even played this one at parties, too.
I Spy Water Bottles
We also make I Spy Bottles. I have the kids find little trinkets around the house. It’s mainly stuff they get from quarter machines or at school that’s just lying around. Then, we fill the empty bottles with rice and the trinkets. I tape the caps shut, just so we won’t have a big mess if it gets unscrewed, and shake it up. This is fun for my kids, especially on a long car ride.
Water Bottle Ring Toss
Like Water Bottle Bowling, Water Bottle Ring Toss is another fun one. I fill empty water bottles and use food coloring, too. Then, I pull out some wooden curtain rings and give them each a stack. This one is fun for older kids because it’s quite the challenge. My 15 yr old is very competitive with this game. This particular game was not over until she finally made it.
We’ve been doing this one for years, and it is a hit with every kid at every age. Even adults love this one – Bubble Snakes!! This time we added food coloring for Tie Dyed Bubble Snakes.
Tie Dyed Bubble Snakes
Supplies
- Water bottles
- Scissors
- Old washcloth
- Rubberbands
- Container of soapy water
- Food coloring dyes
1. Cut the end off a water bottle, and cut an old washcloth into four squares.
2. Next, rubber band the end of the washcloth piece onto the open end of the water bottle.
3. Make a small container of soapy water with dish detergent. Dip the wash cloth side of your bottle into it.
4. Then Add 5 drops of each color of food coloring to the washcloth. We usually stuck with just 2-3 colors.
5. Now Blow!! You’ll make colorful snakes of bubbles.
Be warned! This can be messy and is best done outside. My son gave himself green hands and both my daughters had rainbow feet, but it easily washed off afterwards. This fun is definitely worth the mess!
Make a Lava Lamp
This last one is our absolute favorite water bottle fun. It’s a homemade Lava Lamp.
Supplies
- Empty water bottle
- Cooking oil
- food coloring + water
- Alka Seltzer tablets
1. Fill the water bottle with cooking oil until about 2/3 full.
2. With food coloring, dye about a cup of water.
3. Slowly pour the dyed water into the water bottle.
4. Here’s the fun! Break an Alka Seltzer tablet in half and then add each half.
5. Sit back and watch the fun!
More Fun Kids Activities
- Paper Cup Puppets
- Paper Wizard Wands
- Edible Rainbow Paint
- Pool Noodle Poppers
- Marshmallow Catapult
- Light Up Mason Jar Aquariums
- DIY Fizzy Sidewalk Paint
Need some Printable Activities for the Kids?
Here’s a ton of ideas:
- Download FREE Preschool Pretend Play Hairdresser Printable Bundle for Kids
- Preschool Pretend Play Adopt a Pet Printables Kit
- Pretend Play Plant Stand Printable Game for Kids
- FREE Preschool Pretend Play Eye Doctor Printables Kit
- Free Printable Pretend Play Pet Store
- Flashlight Games
- Free Preschool Grocery Store Printable Game
- Make Your Own Blue’s Clues Paw Print Hunt
- Free Preschool Ice Cream Shop Printable Game
- How to Teach Math to Preschoolers
- How to teach Letter Recognition to Preschoolers
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5 comments
These look like fun!Love the color bubble ones especially – would be fun even without the color I think
This looks like SO much fun, I wish I’d seen this when my kids were younger BUT my teenagers & I still love the diet coke/Mentos trick so maybe we can do this when my daughter is home for her first college break
I am pinning this for some of our days off from school that are coming up! Thanks for these great ideas! We have so many water bottles here I’d love to reuse them – getting a 5 gallon container from Walmart would be even better! #client