Noisemakers and hidden treasure holders can be made by very young children with marginal adult assistance. No cutting is required. Both noisemakers and treasure holders can be made by simply removing the cap and filling the inside of the bottle.
Since it is not important to see inside a noisemaker, the inside can be decorated by pouring a small amount of water-based paint inside the bottle and shaking vigorously. The inside should be completely dry before the child fills the water bottle with small items such as rice, beans, or beads.
A treasure holder must be transparent, so paint is not an appropriate decoration. The child should fill the bottom of the bottle with small treasures, such as beads and other small plastic items. An adult should write a list of what is placed inside the bottle for later reference. Then, the bottle must be filled with sand, Allow the child to shake the bottle to mix the treasures in. To find the treasures again, continue shaking until they come to the surface.
Bottles make ideal piggy banks. They are cheap and affordable and can be customized into any animal or alien imaginable. This craft requires children to be comfortable with glue and scissors.
The child should begin by gluing pink construction paper around the outside of the bottle to create the pig's body. The bottle should then be laid lengthwise and secured in place with four pink clay balls. These are the feet. The lid of the bottle is the pig's nose. The child can accentuate the face by adding eyes, nostrils and ears to the pig. The ears should be made of pink construction paper and can be secured with double-sided tape. They should be placed at the widest part of the bottle above the face.
The child can finish the project by gluing or taping a pink pipe cleaner to the opposite end, curled like a tail. An adult should then cut a slot in the top of the bottle for the coins.
For generations, children have been puzzled by the seemingly impossible ship in a bottle. This craft project is surprisingly easy with a plastic water bottle, and children will delight in being able to tell their friends that they did it themselves. To complete this task, children should be comfortable using glue and scissors. Children may be required to cut cardboard and plastic if an adult is unable to assist with this project.
The water bottle will need to be completely washed inside and out before beginning this project. An adult or proficient child will need to lay the bottle on its side and cut a small rectangular segment from one side. The segment should be slightly larger than the bottom of the ship will be.
The child must cut a piece of cardboard for base that the ship will sit on, making sure that the cardboard segment is smaller than the plastic door. The ship can then be constructed from cardboard or construction paper and glued to the base. The child can decorate the ship as desired with toothpick-and-construction-paper masts, paint, or other materials.
The child or an adult assistant must carefully glue the base of the finished boat assembly to the plastic segment that was removed from the bottle. The plastic piece must be taped back to the bottle to trap the ship inside! Prevent the bottle from rolling by propping it up with four balls of clay positioned near the bottom.