RELAXATION JARS

This is a great coping skills used for distractions or to calm your anxiety down. Yes, this idea is all over the internet  … but I’ve fallen in love with them and just had to share them on my very own post.

They are super simple to make.  All you need is:

• a container (I used pint-sized Mason jars, but you can use a empty soft drink container, plastic jar …  pretty much anything that is clear and has a lid)
• warm water
• Glitter Glue (1.8 fl oz)
• a hot glue gun (to seal the lid if you wish to avoid spills)

I created mine by filling the Mason jar halfway with the warm water, emptying the glitter glue into the jar, (using more warm water to rinse and empty the remaining glitter glue out of the container  … adding the water and shaking vigorously), adding more warm water if needed to fill the jar to the top, and then putting on the lid.

I found I needed to shake the mixture very well for awhile and also let it sit for a bit so that the glue would dissolve and fully mix with the water.  (however, even when it is fully mixed the glitter will settle awhile after it is shaken.)  As it would make sense … the greater the proportion of glitter glue to water the more dense the water becomes and the glitter “hangs” in suspension for longer.  Experimenting with different amounts can give you a variety of effects.

I also discovered that NOT ALL GLITTER GLUE works for this project … a couple of kinds that I had (they tended to have larger glitter) would NOT dissolve in the water (like the above clumpy pink glitter!).  The Glitter Glue that I found works best is the Createlogy Brand sold at Michael’s.

These beautiful, easy to make jars are absolutely wonderful for staring at a relaxing … just losing yourself in the swirling glitter for a few moments helps to center oneself.  They’ve been used as “Glitter Jars“, “Calm Down Glitter Jars“, “Calming Glitter Jars“, “Calming Glitter Bottle“,  “Mind Jar and awesome gift card free printable” (that has a great explanation of how you can use them), and “Time-out Jar“.  Whatever they are called … or however they are made (there’s a few variations) they are truly wonderful for helping kids settle down and relax.  The idea is that by the time the glitter settles at the bottom the viewer would be calmer.

Creating these at home, school, or in therapy with a child would be a perfect, simple hands-on activity that they could take home as a great tool to help center them.  Whether they tend to be anxious or hyperactive … Heck, anyone could use this tool to help chill out during the day!