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Letter Matching Sensory Bottle

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Learning the alphabet can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be boring! This uppercase and lowercase letter matching “I Spy” sensory bottle is a fun and engaging way to help children get excited about recognizing and matching letters of the alphabet!

*For more alphabet fun, be sure to grab our Alphabet Centers and Activities for Pre-K & Kindergarten!

Make learning uppercase and lowercase letters fun with this engaging alphabet letter matching sensory bottle! It's so fun and so easy to prep!

Letter Matching Sensory Bottle

Matching uppercase to lowercase letters of the alphabet is a complex skill! While a child will easily be able to identify and match ‘S’ to ‘s’, there are some extra tricky combinations. My preschool students always had the most trouble with the letters ‘b’, ‘p’, ‘d’, and ‘q’. It’s completely understandable since it is the same shape, just rotated differently.

That requires visual discrimination skills that will come through time, practice, and patience.

This letter matching sensory bottle is a great tool to help children gain more confidence in identifying their letters, and it has endless possibilities for play!

This letter matching sensory bottle is a great tool to help children gain more confidence in identifying their letters.

How to Prep

Supplies Needed:

  • Clean water bottle
  • Funnel
  • Uppercase and lowercase letter beads
  • Poly-pellets
  • Super glue

The water bottle used here is a VOSS water bottle. It can be tricky to find. Check places such as Target, Kroger, Whole Foods, or Walmart. Amazon carries them as well. But for an easy solution, any clean water bottle will work.

Pour the poly-pellets through a funnel. We filled our bottle about half way up with the poly-pellets.

Letter beads or alphabet beads can be found at Amazon or some school supply stores. They are actually lacing beads but have so many uses. We use ours constantly for making word families, practicing beginning sounds, lacing our names, and more. Each box of beads contains multiple sets of each letter, so they are perfect for classroom use. The only downside is uppercase and lowercase letters are sold separately and not as a set.

Poly-pellets are available at most craft stores. These are what you would find in many bean bags. Amazon carries them as well. But you could even substitute rice.

Lastly, super glue is great to keep everything in the bottle. My favorite kind is Gorilla Glue. Poly-pellets shooting across the floor are never fun!

RELATED RESOURCE: Alphabet Writing Centers

Add all of the uppercase and lowercase letters and add more poly-pellets until you get your sensory bottle just the way you want it.

Making the Letter Matching Sensory Bottle

Before we made our sensory bottle, my five-year-old and seven-year-old matched all of our alphabet beads.

Next, we poured the poly-pellets through the funnel. We filled our bottle about half way up with the poly-pellets.

Then we added all of the uppercase and lowercase letters.

Shake the bottle and add more poly-pellets until you get your sensory bottle just the way you want it. We just love the way the poly-pellets tap in the bottle. It makes it sound like a rainstick!

Lastly, glue on the lid. The glue will need to be reapplied every few months, so check your bottle regularly.

Lastly, glue on the lid. The glue will need to be reapplied every few months, so check your bottle regularly.

Now you are ready to enjoy a fun and exciting sensory bottle while exploring the alphabet at the same time. It would be great for a circle time activity, in small groups, and even for individual play.

Children will love pointing out the letters they know and rolling it around to find its match!

Children will love pointing out the letters they know and rolling the bottle around to find its match!

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Katie
Katie
Katie T. Christiansen is an early childhood educator of 14 years and mama to three sweet little ones. She has a degree in Early Childhood Education and loves teaching children through play. You can follow Katie on Preschool Inspirations, and see more of what she shares on Pinterest and Instagram.
Katie
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About Katie

Katie T. Christiansen is an early childhood educator of 14 years and mama to three sweet little ones. She has a degree in Early Childhood Education and loves teaching children through play. You can follow Katie on Preschool Inspirations, and see more of what she shares on Pinterest and Instagram.

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Through the Print and Play Club, her Instagram community, and easy prep classroom resources, Alex shares her love of resources and activities that promote playful learning with other Pre-K and Kindergarten teachers around the world.

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