I got today's activity idea from parenting.com. They suggested partially filling water bottles with water, tightening the caps on as tightly as you can, and then letting your little one play with them. I had bottles leftover from the kids' birthday party, so I decided to give this activity a whirl. I added a few drops of coloring to the bottles for a visual effect.
Both kids enjoyed this activity! At first, Oliver was upset that I wouldn't take the caps off. He wanted to play with the water part and pour it out. Jo sat nearby shaking the bottles and having a blast. Soon, Oliver decided that the bottles were fun, too.
This activity kept Oliver entertained for about 10 minutes. Jo continued playing with the bottles because she enjoyed the crinkle sounds of the plastic in her hands. She liked watching the colored water swish, and she liked watching them when I rolled them for her. As she continues to play with the bottles as I write this, Oliver is laughing at her shaking them. It's pretty cute.
Water Shakers is a solid activity for toddlers, especially very young toddlers and older babies. Just make sure you put on the lids really tightly or even glue them to help prevent them coming off, which would be a choking hazard. Jo's still playing with these bottles! I give this activity an A for keeping such a young kid happily entertained.
These would also be fun to let the kids play with in the tub or out in the kiddie pool in the summer.
