I washed an empty sports drink bottle (because it has a wider neck than the individual soda pop bottles do) and let it dry COMPLETELY. I then removed the label, using GooGone® to remove the glue. I removed the date stamp from the bottle using non-acetone nail polish remover.

I searched the junk drawer in my kitchen, my desk drawers, the bottom of my daughter's toy drawer, and various other nooks and crannies for items small enough to fit through the neck of the bottle. I ended up with 20 items - a button, pencil sharpener, feather, chain, toy ladder, paperclip, diaper pin, clothespin, jack, magnet, rock, thumb tack, coin, tag, candle, hook, bolt, chalk, toy gremlin, and an old key.

I put the items into the bottle, then filled it to an inch below the top with salt. That's right - plain, old, inexpensive table salt. I then superglued the lid onto the bottle and voila! A new and mess-free travel game!

This was just a prototype, of course, but my daughter got quite a kick out of it. We played several times yesterday, with me timing her and counting the items she called out. Next time, I'd like to use more items. I think that, for older children or adults, I would color the salt with tempera powder or use a colored material like sand. For my kindergartener, however, the plain white salt worked perfectly. Have fun making your own and happy playing!!