To engage children in literacy and stories we think creatively in how to do this. One way that we deliver this to the children is to make “themed” bottles to go with the stories. These are known as Literacy Discovery Bottles. Here are some ideas of how to create a selection of discovery bottles in case you wanted to try this at home with your little one – or even to share or create with friends.
This activity is a fun way to extend your child’s favourite story book. All you need are a few simple objects or toys you may have in the house to start your collection. You’ll of course have your own ideas of what you could use. Here are some exciting examples of literacy discovery bottles that we have created in the past.
Elmer (any Elmer book)
- A few of Lego bricks in different colours – matching Elmer
- A wide neck bottle
- Water
Add all the items to the bottle and when reading the story use the bottle as a prop – you can ask your child to see if they can match Elmers colours from the book to the bottle. It’s great for your child to tip and shake the bottle to explore how the bricks move in the water to and to try to find the matching colours
Dinosaur Farm
- A small toy Tractor
- A selection of small dinosaurs
- A wide neck bottle
- Water
The Stick and The Stone
- A bottle sized stick
- A bottle sized stone
- Washing up liquid (to create the bubbles
- A wide neck bottle
- Water
The Grouchy Ladybird
- Ladybird buttons
- Oil – we use baby oil of this
- Water
- A stick that fits from end to end in the bottle
