Mind Jar

How fun is this mind jar?  I found this idea on a blog called Here We Are Together.  She explains that "A Mind Jar is a meditation tool to use whenever a child feels stressed, overwhelmed or upset. Imagine the glitter as your thoughts. When you shake the jar, imagine your head full of whirling thoughts, then watch them slowly settle while you calm down". 

This can provide a nice alternative to a traditional timeout, and it encourages the child to refocus without punishing them.  Although the kids and I just like to shake it up and  sit and watch the glitter swirl around and around.  Perhaps next time we'll make our own snow globe by gluing an object on the inside of the lid.

Supplies:

-Jar (baby food, mason)

-Glitter Glue

-Food Coloring

-Warm Water

Directions:

Mix about 1 tablespoon of glitter glue with 1 cup of warm water...depending on the size of your jar.  My jar was a bit bigger so I used 2 tablespoons of glitter glue and 2 cups of warm water.  I also added some blue food coloring since my kids like the color blue.

Note:  The warm water is to help dissolve the glue.  I had a hard time dissolving it...so I heated the water up in a microwave safe cup for 30-60 seconds.  While the water is warm...the glitter will fall quickly.  I noticed that it only took about 3 minutes for the glitter to fall while the water was warm...but it took a little over 5 minutes to finish falling once the water cooled down.  If you do use this as an alternative to time-outs and think 5 minutes is too long for your child, you should play around with the water and glue ratio.