This couldn’t be easier, yet is a fun way to bring the science of fish eggs to your home or classroom!
We love using sensory bottles and other hands-on activities to engage kids in learning.
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These make great gift ideas for kids, too — you could make it to give someone, or put together the supplies in a kit for them to make as a craft activity.
Before we get to the how-to, we’ve got your back in prepping for sharing a little about fish eggs with your kiddos. After all, that’s what discovery is all about, right? Exploring, interacting, and learning together!
Our marine biology teaching background has made us quite passionate about sharing the ocean love, so we hope you pass it on! (Of course, adjust concepts to the level that you’re working with.)
- The female fish lets out lots of eggs (thousands!) in the water. Each egg can carry one baby.
- The eggs are usually teeny-tiny aka microscopic (so small you can’t see them with just your eyes).
- The eggs drift in the ocean water while the baby inside grows bigger before hatching.
- Other animals eat some of the eggs, making fish eggs a very important food source for the ocean’s animals.
- Some fish hold the eggs in their mouth (cardinal fish) or pouch (like the seahorse) to protect the eggs.
- Sometimes it’s the female or mom that protects the eggs (African cichlid), sometimes it’s the male or dad (seahorse).
To explore more, you can also check out this Ted Ed lesson and animation: The Secret Lives of Baby Fish
Our crazy passion for the ocean can be seen more in our ocean-themed children’s books too — TONS of marine life that seems to pop off the page at ya.
Check out our Amazon author page here and keep the ocean fun & and learning flowing 🙂
Now for the sensory bottle…a very easy one!
- sensory bottle (we used this one from Michaels)
- water beads of various colors (they come in jars at the dollar store floral section that are ready to go, or you can buy a packet that needs to be soaked)
- a mixing bowl
- measuring cup (we used 1/4 cup)
- funnel or measuring cup with a pour lip
- optional: distilled water
To help our oceans and environment, we prefer not to use glitter. The pretty sparkle is made of plastic that can look like fish food, so fish and other animals eat it. This causes all sorts of trouble, even leading to plastic bits being in the very fish we eat!
(This is great practice for kids to measure amounts!)
- Once your water beads are ready (if you had to soak them), measure equal amounts of the different colors into the mixing bowl that will altogether be enough to fill the bottle as much as you want it filled.
- Of course, you can add more of one color – we ended up adding more yellow and blue.
- Mix with a spoon.
- Transfer to the sensory bottle using the spoon, funnel, or pouring measuring cup.
- To make more of a calm down bottle or bottle that has motion, add less water beads and fill with distilled water. The air bubbles and liquid will make for a cool effect! (But they look most like fish eggs when there is hardly any liquid.)
- Put the lid on the sensory bottle. You may want to glue it on for younger kids to avoid opening it or spilling it.
Want to make it even more spooky for Halloween? Turn it into an apothecary jar with our free printable label!
For even more ocean-themed sensory bottles, check out:
- Fish Scales Sensory Bottle
- Jellyfish Tentacles Sensory Bottle
- Hagfish Slime Sensory Bottle
- Squid Eyes Sensory Bottle
- Octopus Arms Sensory Bottle
- Mermaid Hair Sensory Bottle
Disclaimer: All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.