This DIY mini calm down jar is so simple to make with kids and is the perfect antidote to the excitement of Christmas!
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To make a DIY mini glitter calm down jar, you will need:
- a mini jam jar (like the ones you get jam in at a B&B), including the lid
- baby oil
- fine glitter dust (any colour)
- small sequins or sparkly stars (in another colour)
- a glue gun
How to make a DIY mini glitter calm down jar:
- Wash your mini jam jar thoroughly with hot soapy water and scrape off any labels, then allow it to dry completely.
- Put a very small amount of glitter dust (just to cover your little finger nail) into your dry jam jar. We used the end of a teaspoon to do this. Of course you can use more if you want to, but we found that more than this obscured the larger stars and made the jar too cloudy. A little goes a long way!
- Add some small sequins or sparkly stars
- Squeeze baby oil into the jar, filling it right up to the top (this way you only get a very small air bubble in the jar). Baby oil works better than water because the glitter floats in it, taking longer to settle.
- Add glue all around the outer edge of your jam jar lid and quickly, but carefully screw it tightly onto the jar (probably safer to get an adult to do this bit)!
- Leave the glue to cool and set completely.
- Enjoy tilting, turning and swirling your DIY mini glitter calm down jar!
I’ve been using a version of these in my professional role for years but you’ve given me a fresh load of ideas, thanks for sharing in the Kiddie Charts Pin it party
That’s so great to hear – thank you for commenting and letting me know! 🙂
Did this with little honey bear jars today, the Kindergarteners loved it!!!
Thank you.
These are so pretty! And, ahem, arguably I need to calm down as much as the kids do 😉 #pintorials
me too Kate, me too… 😉
Thank you so much for this idea! I have been in dire need of a different solution for a calming jar to add to an Adult Sensory Room. This will be an awesome addition 🙂
Oh I am so pleased to hear that! 🙂
Love these!!!
Thanks Katie! x
This is a great idea. I have two year old twins, and we are ‘learning’ lots of things at the moment – how to share, that hitting and pushing isn’t ok, that doing things when we don’t want to do them is just part of life, and that being kind and loving is very important. I am always looking for ways of helping me teach them the fundamentals, during which we have tantrums and the usual difficulties that all toddlers encounter during this difficult phase of their development. There are many methods that are suggested by other parents, so called specialists and pretty much everyone – whether they have a child or not! I believe in honesty, communication and teaching my children what is right and wrong in a loving supportive way. If they are naughty I do not send them away from me, the naughty step method doesn’t feel right to me, even though I know it works very effectively for many people – it makes me think of how prisoners are punished when they have committed crimes in prison, sending someone to coventry, separating them from everyone and everything until they have repented is a punishment that may well work, but I want my children to know that I am always there for them – whether they are good or bad, I will never desert them, send them away from me or leave them alone. That although I may not like or tolerate their bad behaviour, I will always love them, and there is nothing they could ever do that would make me stop loving them, or stop wanting to be close to them. I take them to a quiet room, I hold them without hugging them and explain why I am not happy with their behaviour, and that I won’t accept it. They usually cry, struggle, or try to hug me for comfort and I gently explain that they need to apologise and say sorry – if that is necessary, and we are going to stay here quietly until they are ready to do so. They can cry, scream, and struggle, mostly they try to get me to cuddle and comfort them, but I just hold them in a firm but gentle embrace until they are calm and ready to apologise or do whatever it is they don’t want to do (put on their shoes, wear a coat, share a toy, not hit or push their sibling, sit in their highchairs for mealtime – these are typical stumbling blocks) For us this method works, as soon as they apologise or tell me they are ready to put on their shoes/get into a highchair/apologise for pushing – we hug each other, I tell them I love them and that its all done now – so lets get on with our day. I think a calm down glitter jar will be a fabulous tool to help with the calming down period – I just hope it’s not so fabulous that they start behaving badly just to get a chance to use the calm down glitter jar! I promise I won’t leave essays overtime I see something that inspires me – many thanks and can’t wait to get started!
Thanks so much for commenting Jess – I LOVE comments, so never apologise for taking the time to feedback!
I am so pleased you like the idea and I really hope the glitter jar helps your little ones to calm down (and that they don’t have any negative repercussions with it inadvertently becoming an incentive for unwanted behaviour) 😉
Do let me know how they react to it please…
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