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The Empowered Educator

Inspiring ideas, training and resources for early learning.

Recycling Deodorant Bottles for Fun!

by 12 Comments

I’ve been collecting empty roller deodorant bottles for a little while now because i wanted to share a  favourite activity from my early days of child care with the toddler twosome.

It’s a fantastic frugal activity for practising fine motor skills and also for those children that don’t really like getting their hands to messy with paint!

I just love recycling items from around the house and turning them into creative learning opportunities full of fun…there really is no need to buy expensive products to have a little fun with your toddler at home!

Toddler Fine motor Fun
After using the last drops of roll on deodorant simply slide a butter knife in between the side of the roller and container as shown below….it’s quite easy really, you just have to wiggle it in place and then it is a simple matter of popping out the ball!
Give it a thorough wash and then fill with whatever paint you like. I used some watered down acrylic but i have also previously just used water paint and even my Cornflour paint . You don’t want it to be too thick though so it is a good idea to add a little water too or the roller will stick.
Push the roller ball back onto the bottle, give it a shake and you are good to go! 
Toddler DIY Roller Bottle Activity
All ready for a little roller painting fun…it’s a good idea to do a few test runs first to get the paint flowing before offering otherwise it can prove difficult to use the first time for toddlers…
Toddler recycled painting

So many opportunities for fine motor fun and exploration as they push down and try to roll, play with the roller ball to see how it works and putting the lids on and off is lots of fun too!
Recycled fine motor fun

Ruby took quite a while to decide which one she wanted to use….mainly based on the packaging i think! She was happy to begin painting without touching the paint for quite a while…as she got a little braver she began to explore the roller and get a little more paint on her fingers each time.

It really is a great activity for those sensory sensitive children who don’t like to get paint on their fingers though as there is no real need for them to have to touch it and yet they can still be creative and watch their patterns forming….

The toddler twosome enjoyed creating lines, dots and splatters with their roller bottles…..they made lovely colourful prints i think.

Ruby was overjoyed when she realised she could make splatters with the bottle by using it in a different way…once she started we went through an awful lot of paper i can tell you!

Toddler Fine Motor Activity

Tara preferred to make lines and splodges…..

Dabbing was lots of fun and took lots of control to do….

This is Ruby’s ‘face’…i can see it…can you? She was very proud of it!

A fun, easy and frugal activity which left us with lots of masterpieces to share with family and adorn our walls…..I hope you give it a try!

 If this is your first visit to Mummy Musings and Mayhem and you like what you see you can follow us on Facebook and Pinterest for more inspiration, frugal fun and mayhem!

Warm Wishes….

Comments

  12. hi – what dedorant did you use for this? I have bought many roll-on types at the drug store and can not get the ball to pop out – a butter knife does not fit at all.

    Reply

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What people are saying …

A big shout out to you Jodie!

I purchased all your Educator Resource Packs and they are fantastic! I can already see they are going to be a massive help in all areas. You share so many fantastic resources and ideas. I can hardly wait to get more oranges!
Thanks for all the hard work that obviously went into putting these together.

Renata Plesa Stipanovic

5.0
2018-10-24T11:28:25+10:00

Renata Plesa Stipanovic

I purchased all your Educator Resource Packs and they are fantastic! I can already see they are going to be a massive help in all areas. You share so many fantastic resources and ideas. I can hardly wait to get more oranges! Thanks for all the hard work that obviously went into putting these together.

Thank you!

I've been teaching for over 20 years, with 14 of that time being a 3's teacher. It's hard to find workshops that go beyond basics but you offer basics and MORE and are exetremely helpful and supportive.

Chris Binder

5.0
2018-10-24T11:33:54+10:00

Chris Binder

I've been teaching for over 20 years, with 14 of that time being a 3's teacher. It's hard to find workshops that go beyond basics but you offer basics and MORE and are exetremely helpful and supportive.
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Thanks Jodie for doing what you do.

I love that you are genuine and have a working knowledge of all that you offer to educators. Only educators know what other educators go through and need in terms of support and resources. I appreciate you and the work you do.

Peta Wendt

5.0
2018-10-24T11:51:24+10:00

Peta Wendt

I love that you are genuine and have a working knowledge of all that you offer to educators. Only educators know what other educators go through and need in terms of support and resources. I appreciate you and the work you do.

I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to Jodie.

I was the winner of the My Play Prompt Planner and I LOVE it! It has given me the confidence to start the new year with a bang, with no stress and to feel confident I am doing the best I can with my programming. Thank you!

Cora Mills

5.0
2018-10-24T11:54:57+10:00

Cora Mills

I was the winner of the My Play Prompt Planner and I LOVE it! It has given me the confidence to start the new year with a bang, with no stress and to feel confident I am doing the best I can with my programming. Thank you!
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What a great resource.

I got the Organisation Toolkit today, I'm starting my own family day care and no way in hell am I going to be unorganised! Thanks sooooo much for such a great resource.

Katrina Krogh

5.0
2018-10-25T12:24:25+10:00

Katrina Krogh

I got the Organisation Toolkit today, I'm starting my own family day care and no way in hell am I going to be unorganised! Thanks sooooo much for such a great resource.

Well Done!

It's blessing to find such a great range of resources and information that will simplify my job. It's the first time in 21 year I've found this kind of resources that I can reach just pressing a button!

Xiomara Moran

5.0
2018-10-25T12:27:14+10:00

Xiomara Moran

It's blessing to find such a great range of resources and information that will simplify my job. It's the first time in 21 year I've found this kind of resources that I can reach just pressing a button!
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