What is it about young children and magnets?! They just adore exploring the magnetic properties of objects and never, ever seem to tire of it. Here is an idea that I used when teaching preschoolers as a Montessori Teacher.

It’s called a “Discovery Bottle” and allows young children to safely explore the smaller and sometimes sharper objects that you may not ordinarily wish them to.

You simply need and empty, clear, plastic water bottle and some magnetic/non-magnetic objects that will fit inside. I like to add small stars or tiny pom-poms to add to the wonder and sense of fun. I dropped in the following: coins, keys, hair clips, bulldog clips, paper clips, thumb tacks, bottle cork and a pencil sharpener.

Remove the label and ensure that the bottle is completely dry inside. I used a very small bottle for the purpose of illustrating and photographing the bottle. A large 1 litre bottle would provide lots more fun than my mini one!

Depending on the age of your child you may wish to seal the bottle with either Super Glue or Hot Glue.

Your child can now run a magnetic up, down and around the bottle gathering magnetic object on the way.

Give the bottle a shake and you might catch something else! It is great fun to have an object follow your magnetic around. Seriously, you should try it yourself 😉

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh 🙂