This post has been sponsored by Amazon Studios.
I love when things in our daily life inspire our crafting time. This week, the Amazon Original Kids’ Series show, Stinky & Dirty, inspired us to make a fun craft using an empty water bottle. In this series, dynamic duo Stinky, the garbage truck, and Dirty, the backhoe loader, enjoy everyday adventures that prove how resourcefulness and teamwork can solve just about any problem. I love that they give kids ideas for reusing things instead of throwing them away.
There are so many things you can make with an empty water bottle but my boys and I used it to make spelling practice more fun by turning it into a game. We created an I-SPY ABC bottle!
This craft is super easy to do and fun for kids to help make.
1) Make sure your water bottle is dry inside and take off the outside wrapper.
2) Fill the bottle a quarter full with rice.
3) Add in half of the beads.
4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 until your water bottle is 3/4 of the way full.
5) At this point you can super glue the lid on if you feel your children may open it, otherwise just put the lid on tightly. Then, have children shake the water bottle to mix the rice and beads.
There are a number of ways to use this I-SPY bottle: For younger children you can have them find certain letters by saying the letter you want them to find, say the sound the letter you want them to find makes or have them name letters and sounds as they find them. Older kids can be asked to find the letters that spell words. Children can also find a letter in the ABC I-Spy bottle and then find something in the room that starts with the letter.
Do your children love using their imaginations? If so, you’ll definitely want to watch Stinky & Dirty with them! It’s now streaming with Prime on Amazon Video. Watch an episode with your child and encourage them to use problem solving skills to turn trash into treasure to solve a problem! I’d love to see what they are inspired to create! Tag me on social media (@aliciamarie112 on Twitter and Making Time For Mommy on Facebook) and share with the hashtag #StinkyAndDirty :)
That looks like a lot of fun with your toddler! I wish I thought of this when my kiddo was little!
Very cute idea! I know my MIL has made these for my kids in the past too!
What a fun and inexpensive way to help children with their letters. I would have loved to have done this with my daughter.
Seriously, what a great idea!!! My son needs a toy like this to help him practice his letters.
I think this is a great idea. I love making bottles like these. I never thought about doing it with all letters. This is great!
This is an excellent way to teach the little’s their alphabets! Great idea I love it!
This is so awesome! I would make little rice pillows for my kids. I’d hide tiny objects in the rice for them to find. A quiet activity while sitting in church.
This looks like so much fun. I have seen lots of bottles out there but have never used any with my kids.
That is such an attention grabbing name for a show! This is a nice and easy activity to put together, it’d be great for a rainy day.
This is a great activity for the car. I will have to get the supplies I need to make one.
This is going to be great for teaching my little one her alphabet. I will have to make one tomorrow for her.
This is going to be perfect for my friends twins. They are just learning their alphabet.
What a creative game! Love that it is fun and helps kids be more creative with words!
This is such a great idea, and it costs next to nothing! This would be great on long car rides.
That’s a really cute idea! I love it. My 3-year-old loves letters, and this would be a really neat project to do with her.
I think this is a great idea. I never thought about doing it with all letters!!
This is great letter practice for kids! I imagine there would be lots of fun games we could think of it with it too.
What a great idea to help practice letters! I think even my older daughter would love this I Spy game. And I haven’t heard of The Stinky & Dirty Show…I’ll have to check that out! Sounds intriguing!
i really love this idea. it is very creative and looks like so much fun