Friday, November 18, 2011

Calming Jars

I have a confession...I am the mother of wild children.  Okay, this might not be that huge of a confession.  In fact, it isn't really much of a secret.  All of my friends and family know about my boys' dispositions.  They are not bad children, just extremely passionate about everything they do.  This often leads to over wrought nerves and REALLY BIG tantrums.

My husband and I have tried all sorts of disciplinary tactics.  Some work, others don't, but none of them really reached the heart of the matter...the boys need to CALM DOWN!  Have you every tried to discipline an hysterical child?  Are they really learning anything?

Yesterday a friend of mine posted on Facebook that she had made her daughter, who is a year older than my youngest son, a Calming Jar.  In the post someone asked her what it was and she explained.  To me, a nerve-frayed mother looking for a solution, this was pure GOLD!  I looked up the directions on Pinterest (my current addiction) and informed my sons we were going on an "Inspiration Expedition" to the craft stores.


These are all of the supplies you need (water too).  Seriously, all you need is a bottle or jar (12-16 oz), water, glitter glue, extra fine glitter, food coloring, and duct tape (or something else to seal the cap of the container nice and tight).


I chose to use a 12 oz soda bottle because they were plastic and on sale.  I, of course, had to make a great sacrifice by drinking a couple of these babies to get my empty bottles, but what can I say, I am a slave to my art.


After the bottle was emptied and rinsed I filled it with 12 oz of water.


My son then was able to help by emptying two tubes (about 1 1/2 Tbsp) of glitter glue into the bottle.  Glitter glue (found in the kids craft section of your local craft store) is necessary, as other glues are not thick enough to achieve the desired effect of this project.


Next he added his preferred food coloring to the bottle.


Next I helped him add 1/2 an ounce of extra fine glitter.  The heavier glitter sinks to the bottom too fast for the purpose of this project.


Next I capped the bottle, shook it until all of the glitter and glue were mixed evenly and the glitter swirled around in a "storm-like" fashion.  At this point I sealed the cap.  I used black designer Duck Tape because I thought it added a nice touch to the project and was a lot less messy than using super glue or rubber cement.


Then I gave the bottle to my son and told him to shake it up as good as he could and then watch it until all of the glitter stopped moving.  I timed the bottle while he was doing this.  His bottle took about 3 minutes to settle.  The desired time is 3-5 minutes.

The purpose of this bottle is for the child to imagine that the glitter in the bottle are all of his thoughts.  As the glitter settles so do his thoughts.  After the bottle is settled then he should be ready to speak with you about what happened, or what's bothering him, or why he did what he did.

This purpose is easier to achieve with an older child, but my 2-year old is mesmerized by the glitter and usually stops crying long enough to shake the bottle and stare at it.

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