There are so many fun ways to play with MiniZoo animals, and don’t assume it's always just for older kids. There are plenty of ways toddlers and babies can join in on the MiniZoo fun.

My latest creation has been a few Discovery Bottles for Sensory Play. This was such a fun project to do with my 3 year old helper, for her 8 month old baby brother, as everyone enjoyed the process and the result - plus we were recycling at the same time.

I decided to make four bottles, one with a dinosaur theme, one garden theme, one ocean theme, and one magical theme. There are so many different options, so consider what types of animals you like, and check out our Safari Good Luck Minis page to make it happen.You will need:

• Empty, clear plastic bottles, with label removed, washed and dried
• Colourful contents, such as glitter, pompoms, sequins or bells. Some things you might find in your pantry, like polenta, bread crumbs, lentils, split peas, bran flakes, or rice (dyed or otherwise), and some things you might find in your garden, like sand, dirt, leaves, or mini pine cones, for example. 
• Water
• Funnel
• Glue (optional)
• And of course, your chosen Safari Minis

For our dinosaur themed discovery bottle, I used red lentils, split yellow peas and polenta before adding our Dino Minis. Safari’s Mini Triceratops, T-Rex, Brachiosaurus, Dimetrodon, Pterosaurus, Stegosaurus, Raptor, and Apatosaurus found a perfect new home in our discovery bottle scene. This one turned out great because the dinosaurs become buried in the mix, and you have to shake the bottle to discover them. Sand would be another good sensory option for this scene.

For our garden themed bottle, I included an array of insects, birds, and other garden creatures, including Butterflies, Poison Dart Frogs, Day Geckos, Ladybugs (Red and White), Ants (both Black and White), as well as a Barn Owl, Four Leaf Clover, Rabbit, Chameleon, Snowy Owl, Snake, Toucan, Bumble Bee, Spider, Cardinal, Bald Eagle and Frog. 

I added green split peas and dried leaves from the garden. You could also add flowers if you wanted to add some more colour.

The mythical bottle includes Safari’s Mini Pegasus, Unicorn, Sea Dragon, Lucky Dragon, Chinese Dragon, Ice Dragon, and Areion all swimming in water, and of course, the ‘magic’ glitter and sparkly pompoms which swirl around with the creatures. The glitter dyed the water slightly which made it even more special, but you could add dye if you wanted a specific colour.

When it came to the ocean theme, there are so many Minis to include in the collection - my three year old daughter had so much fun putting them all in the bottle. We used the Safari Mini Lobster, Pufferfish, Starfish, Squid, Jellyfish, Dolphin, Manatee, Hammerhead Shark, Sea Turtle and Hatchling, Great White Shark, Killer Whale, Octopus, Moray Eel, Humpback Whale, Giant Squid, Manta Ray, Emperor Penguin, Hermit Crab, Seahorse, Cownose Ray, Blue Shark, Harp Seal, and of course, everyone’s favourite Disney fish, Dory (Blue Tang), and Nemo (Clownfish). For colour and to create the ocean scene, we used polenta for sand and blue dyed rice for water. It would also be cool to use water for this one and have the creatures ‘swim’ about, but water would change the consistency of the polenta and rice, so a different combination would be needed. Perhaps water and glitter would make a magical ocean scene inside the bottle.

If you'd rather not buy them all individually, you can shop our Safari Mini Fun Packs here for a small collection of mini figures.

You can use the glue to secure the lid on or if you prefer, you could just tighten it as much as you can - little fingers probably can’t undo it, but for peace of mind, the glue can be a good idea.

I love finding new uses for old products, so recycling these plastic bottles for a fun and educational toy is perfect. If you’re passionate about recycling, then you’re in good company - check out how we try to help the environment here, and choose our Green Choice option at the checkout.

We offer worldwide shipping and free shipping within Australia for qualified orders. Share your Sensory Play ideas and Discovery Bottle inventions with us on social media, either by tagging us on Instagram or Facebook, or sharing on our Facebook MiniZoo VIP page. By following us, you’ll also find a bunch of other fun play ideas for all ages.

Jenna @ MiniZoo