If your kids are anything like mine, then they are fascinated with all things gooey and so making their own jellyfish in a bottle is guaranteed to be a hit! This realistic looking specimen is super easy to make and a project that the littlies will be able to get involved in and have hours of fun with afterwards.
Below are 12 super simple steps to jellyfish perfection. If you like, there's a short video (just over a minute) at the bottom of the page which takes you through the project step by step.
Let's get started! There are just a few simple household items you need to complete this project.
Materials List
Transparent plastic grocery bag
Clear Plastic Bottles (such as a large soda or water bottle)
Cotton or synthetic thread
Food coloring
Scissors
Step 1
Flatten out your clear plastic bag by laying it on the table and running the palm of your hand over it to smooth the bag out flat and get rid of any creases.
Step 2
Using your scissors, cut the bottom of the bag off close to the end and also cut the handles off of the top.
Step 3
Then cut along each side leaving 2 square sheets of plastic.
Step 4
Gather the plastic sheet at the center making a little balloon - this will become the body of your jelly fish.
Step 5
Use a length of the cotton thread to tie off the head but remember not to do it too tight! There needs to be a little hole big enough to pour water in to fill the head/body.
Step 6
Using your scissors, cut 8-10 thin strips from the edge up to around 3/4 inch below the thread tying off the head/body - these will be the tentacles of the jellyfish.
Once you have your tentacles, again using the scissors cut each one into 3 or 4 thin strips then trim to make them random lengths (long and short) for a realistic effect.
Step 7
Fill your clear water bottle with regular water from the faucet.
Step 8
Add a few drops of food coloring to the water to get a rich color that you are happy with. Either a golden yellow/orange or a deep blue works really well!
Step 9
Carefully tip the jellyfish upside down moving the tentacles to the side and with a slow trickle of water coming from the faucet fill the body/head of the jellyfish through the little hole where you have tied the thread off (see step 5).
Step 10
Carefully feed the jellyfish in through the top of the bottle - head first, ensuring you keep the body/head of the jellyfish filled with water.
Step 11
Firmly secure the cap of the bottle so little hands can't undo it and make a mess and...
Step 12
Voilà! You have your own pet jellyfish in a bottle! Yay!
How cool is this folks?! If you want to take a quick look at the video showing each step, here it is below. Just be aware there is a more specific information in the step by step above that is not shown in the video so if you're struggling to implement, make sure you read through each part carefully.
Thanks to Barret Sanders for the inspiration for this post. We love it!
We hope you have lots of fun with this simple little project and would love to hear your comments below. Feel free to share this idea with your friends who have kids and post the photos of your results on our Crafty Croc Facebook page.
