Colorful Sand Bottles and Treasure Hunt in a Bottle
Colorful Sand Bottles
On the Beach - COLORFUL Sand Bottles
It is best to do this event outdoors...or place plastic tarps under the sand area. You will thank me later!
Basis Needs:
2-3 folding tables with COLORFUL table cloths
Sand - Several different containers filled with brightly colored sand. If you are on a budget, 2-3 colors will work as the children can alternate color layers.
A (completely dry) water bottle with lid (one per child)
A few plastic funnels
A few scoops, plastic spoons, or anything to dip the sand with.
On a budget? Here's how to make your own colored sand (start working on this project several days or weeks before you need it. You may want to solicit the kids' help with the squish, squish, squishing at the end of class! Have your sifted sand ready and in bags before adding the paint and handing them to the children to squish.
How to make your own colored sand!
Purchase a bag of play sand (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. It is only a few dollars for a big bag.) Sand is rather heavy, so you may want to take someone with you or ask someone to load and unload it.
Using a fine sifter, sift the sand to remove any large chunks, sticks, etc. (This is quick and easy)
Fill a 1-gallon-sized ziplock bag 1/2 to 2/3 full...leaving room for squishing.
Add a couple of squirts of poster paint and a tsp or two of water.
Squish, squish, squish...adding more poster paint and a few drops of water until you get the desired color.
Pour the colored sand onto a paper plate, bowl, etc, and allow to dry.
Put the dried sand through the sifter once again, removing any clumps.
Event:
Pour the sand into "easy-to-dip-from" bowls or containers. Use one bowl per sand color.
Place one scoop or spoon inside each bowl.
Children will set their bottle on the table, place a small funnel on top, hold the bottle securely (don't shake it), and layer the sand into their bottle until they are completely full. Place the cap onto the bottle and tighten.
Extra Fun Ideas:
Limbo
A kiddie pool with sand, sand castles, shovels, and little trinkets, the children can dig for when they have finished their bottle.
Paul's Shipwreck is a great lesson/devotion.
Fruity drinks with little umbrellas, watermelon, or fruits are perfect beach treats!
Don't forget those silly pics! Even if you don't share them on social media, the kids LOVE seeing themselves on the screen on Sunday morning!
Treasure Hunt in a Bottle
Very versatile craft...use when teaching on Paul's shipwreck, Rahab, spying out Canaan or any beach/sea lesson.
You can even use it as a VBS beach craft.
Hours of fun. Can you find all 20 items?
Supplies:
A water bottle with a lid (1 per child) (There are some really neat salad dressing bottles that look like treasure bottles (Bitten or Walden Brand). If you can find bottles that have long necks...such as the pictures above or the Salad Dressing bottles...use them!
Funnels (to fill bottles with birdseed) Test your funnel once you have purchased your seed to make sure that the opening is large enough for your seeds to pass through easily.
A piece of hemp, string, or yarn. Approx. 12” Long with small knots at each end (1 per child)
A bag of birdseed or rice
20 trinket items (clean out your leftover craft items) Buttons, screws, pennies. toothpicks, paper clips, beads, etc. whatever you can find. (20 items per child)
A "Treasure in a Bottle" poem with a hole punched in the upper left-hand corner. Add a hole reinforcement to the back of the tag (round white hole reinforcements). The bottle will be used a lot and the reinforcements will ensure that the tag remains intact.
(1 Per Child).
A 4X4 piece of netting (optional)
Instructions:
Allow each child to:
1. Fill their bottle (halfway) with birdseed
2. Drop the 20 trinkets inside
3. Put the lid on top and shake the bottle
4. Re-open the bottle and finish filling the bottle with birdseed. Leave a 3” gap, depending on your particular type of bottle, between the birdseed and the top of the bottle
5. Screw on the lid
6. If you are using netting, have them center the netting on top of the bottle lid and pull it down around the neck of the bottle.
7. Place a piece of braided yarn around the netting and the neck of the bottle and tie one knot
8. Run one end of the yarn through the hole on the poem gather the two ends of the string together and tie into a knot.
You can use this craft for any lesson involving the ocean, water, treasure, etc.
I have used it when teaching on Paul's Shipwreck.
For the lesson about Rahab. I simply left off the netting and hemp and I replaced it with 3 strands of red yarn braided together to represent the scarlet rope. We talked about the men escaping and how they were "hunted" for...but not found.
I have also used it when teaching on the "Spying Out Canaan"