Craft TuesD.I.Y with Lisa Lopez: Name Game Bottles!

If you're looking for a unique, homemade holiday or birthday gift for kids, or an engaging activity to keep your child occupied in the car, in waiting rooms, or just about anywhere, Name Game Bottles are the perfect craft for you! These simple, yet ingenious bottles are inexpensive to make and fun to put together, and they'll supply hours of entertainment! Filled with trinkets, all starting with a letter in your child's name, (or the name of a lucky recipient), the fun begins when the player must find all of the hidden objects which are camouflaged by bird seed!

Materials you will need:

*Clear, empty plastic bottle with lid

*Bird seed mixture

*Small trinkets: dimes, buttons, safety pins, eraser, pom pom... (anything you desire, it just needs to fit through the opening of the bottle)

*Tape

*Paper

*Funnel- I made my funnel out of a piece of paper

1) Mix bird seed mixture and trinkets together in a bowl. Trinkets should start with a letter in the child's name, so add a dime for D, star confetti for S, etc.

2) Using your funnel, pour the mixture into the bottle, filling it only 3/4 full. Don't fill your bottle to the top because kids will need that extra space to tip and tilt the bottle to find their items. Screw the lid on tightly!

3) At the top of a piece of paper type: "Just for you, a searching game. Using the letters of your special name." Next, type the child's first and last name -- and for each letter of their name, detail which item in the bottle they need to find. (Example, J = jewels and jingle bells.)

4) Tape the paper to the front of the bottle for reference.

Kids will love twisting and turning the bottle while trying to find the hidden, corresponding items! To make the game worthwhile and challenging, include at least 15-20 little items in the bottle. Once you have spelled the name and listed the items next to each letter, simply list additional items underneath.

For an extra touch tie a bow or ribbon around the neck of the bottle.