Sensory toys are toys that provide a particular sensory input, which can bring a sense of calm, ease and/or comfort in the person that uses it.

It is great for all people, but can be especially helpful for people with autism, adhd, ocd, anxiety or similar conditions. 

Glitter Bottle

This sensory toy is a visual toy, and it is beautiful and calming to look at. Shake the bottle, and watch the glitter swirl around and eventually settle at the bottom. 

It can be used when feeling stressed out or uncomfortable, or if you just want something pretty to look at.

(Remember to be careful when working with glitter. Don't get it in your eyes, it can cause serious damage if it gets stuck there.)

What you need:

• Clear plastic bottle (you can use glass, but if it breaks it will be a pain to clean up...)
• Aleene's Clear Gel Tacky Glue (or similar, the important thing is that it's clear)
• Extra fine glitter (regular glitter will not settle at the bottom)
• Glitter glue (optional, if you don't use this, just add a bit more of the clear glue)
• Super glue (for gluing the lid shut)

How to make it:

For one 500 ml bottle (regular sized bottle):

• 1/3 - 1/2 bottle of the glue (depending on how fast you want the glitter to settle)
• 1 bottle of extra fine glitter (there is no right or wrong amount, I used 20 ml)

Fill the bottle 2/3 full with hot water. Add the glue and the glitter, and also the glitter glue if you have that as well. 

Close the lid, and shake the bottle until all the glue has dissolved. If you use colder water this will take forever, so remember to use hot water... 

Shake the bottle, and see how long it takes before the glitter settles at the bottom. If it's settling to fast - add more glue! If it's settling to slow, add more water. You will add a bit more water in the end, so it's better that it is a bit too slow than the other way around.

Sometimes bubbles will form at the top. This will go away after a couple of hours, or you can remove them with a spoon or something like that. When the bubbles are gone, add the rest of the water. Remember to leave a bit of air in the bottle to easier be able to shake it up. 

The last thing you need to do, is superglue the lid shut. Glue and glitter all over your house is not something you would want... So remember this final, but important, step.

The finished bottles

This is what my bottles lookes like when all the glitter is at the bottom.

And when shaken up. The ones I made take around 2-3 minutes to settle.