I've been wanting to make a calming jar for a while now, finally had the perfect rainy afternoon on sunday. I've seen them all over Pinterest and love how fun and beautiful they are and the idea behind them! Calming Down Jars, Calm Jars, Time Out Jars, Mind Jars or just regular Ol' Snow Globes, whatever you decide to call them, these fun tools can be made in a jiffy and can actually come in handy when your child, or yourself, are feeling stressed, moody, upset or overwhelmed.
The idea behind a Calming Jar is you can use them when your little ones are feeling anxious, angry, rattled or shaken. You shake the contents and watch as it slowly settles down. The glitter represents our agitated thoughts and feelings. Watching it slowly fall into place, can give us a few minutes to organize these thoughts and feelings. It's actually extremely therapeutic and are even used as meditation tools. They are also a great alternative for time outs...but look great even when they're not in use.
I tried two versions. The first were your regular snow globes, though super fun and beautiful, the glitter settled pretty quickly (I skipped the glitter glue on these). Don't know if they'll serve the calming down purpose, but these were my six year old favorites, probably because they were Disney inspired and she'll love anything Frozen. I think these would be beautiful to make around christmas time with holidays motifs.
What you'll need:
- A empty jar (glass or plastic, think mason, jam or peanut butter)
- Glue Gun or water resistant glue
- Glitter
- Plastic Toy Figurines
- Water
Optional:
Glitter Glue (contents will take longer to settle) or Food coloring.
If you can't find small toy figurines, which I doubt... You can use lego pieces, glow in the dark stars, glow sticks, you name it!
Glue the figurines to the jar's lid (Floating figurines make great fun too!)
Empty the glitter into the water. Super fine glitter will float to the top when jar is at rest. (If you are using glitter glue water must be warm to hot, otherwise you'll end up with a gooey mess which will have the complete opposite effect of calming!)
Secure lid, turn over and shake contents well.
Watch as the glitter slowly settles...
...and Voilà!
To make your own Glitter Glue Calm Jar, empty a bottle of glitter glue into a jar, add warm to hot water, and shake vigorously for five minutes until the glue is completely dissolved. Water temperature is key people! You can add additional glitter if desired or combine glue colors. These are ideal for time outs, as the contents will take longer to settle. Feel free to throw in miniature figurines. For extra Glow in the dark fun, you can empty the contents of a glow stick into the mix (I've not tried this myself!)
Empty the contents of a large glitter glue bottle of the color of your choice into an empty jar.
Add hot water and shake well until glue dissolves completely.
Your Calm Jar will look something like this when shaken.
I found it does take a while for contents to settle, so unless you are planning to give your child a two day time out, do not expect for the mix to settle completely. Water will likely remain the color of the glue.
Keep Calm & Craft Away!
XO
