Ocean In A Bottle

Wow, I think we've survived the first week of school being out! And how many more to go? Yikes. Oh well. We haven't had much trouble finding things to do. It's good to keep busy but all the running around town can be kind of tiring. Gwen was elected to attend "P.A.L." camp this week at a high school in town for the performing arts program (we call it "Camp Rock"). They perform their "Pirates!" show tonight for all the parents. I really am excited to see it. It sounds like it is going to be really good. The kids have also been kept busy with music lessons, baseball games and practices, church activities, riding motorcycles, jumping on the tramp with the sprinkler under it, painting, riding bikes, playing basketball, digging in the dirt, reading, swinging on the swing, doing chores, playing on the slip n' slide, playing at the farm, making origami, playing with friends and cousins, having water gun fights, climbing trees, making chocolate chip cookies (and eating half the dough), playing at Grandma's, watching movies late at night, playing catch, going boating, and just doing all those fun things that kids do and that the summer affords us to do! A couple nights ago it was just me and Gwen at home so we had fun just hanging together and watching Pride & Prejudice. I do like the laziness of summertime, meaning not really having a schedule and just having some fun together as a family!

So, now to the title of this post. One of the things I've recently made with the kids is "Ocean in a Bottle." This is a simple activity that the kids really liked to do. It's from one of our favorite DVD's "Kid Concoctions". You can make the water any color you want--Pierce and Gretel did blue, Gwen did purple (of course), and Christian mixed colors and got a dark greenish color that we call "Sludge in a Bottle." You can also use red and do "Lava in a Bottle". The kids also thought it would be fun to add little creatures to their bottles. Gretel had a gummy/squishy little octopus (the little animals you can get in the gumball machines at the mall or dentist's), Christian put a little plastic ninja guy in his (from the same place), Gwen didn't add anything, and Pierce put a lego pirate guy in his. I was thinking that if you did "Lava" you could put a Star Wars guy in it like in the lava scene on Star Wars III. Anyway, it gives the kids a chance to be creative and even I like playing with the silly things!

What You Will Need:
1 clear plastic 16 oz. soda bottle with a cap. (Sam's Choice flavored sodas are perfect--they come in four packs-from Walmart)

Baby Oil (I used 2 large bottles to make 4--using generic cost $4 total)

Food coloring

Water

Funnel

-Fill bottle half-way full of water. Add a few drops of color of your choice. Mix well.
-Pour in baby oil to very top. Put cap back on bottle super duper tight! You can even put tape around it to ensure your little ones can't get it off.