Settle Jar

Ages

Best for 3-9 year olds, but still fun for older kids too!

Themes

Emotional recognition and self-regulation; stress management

Supplies

  • An empty, see through glass jar or plastic bottle

    • any size, but a mason jar or regular water bottle are nice and portable. Use plastic if you want it to be thrown-in-a-fit-of-rage proof.

  • Glitter

    • Chunkier glitter will be easier to see individual pieces floating around, but fine glitter will float longer, use whatever you have or mix them both if you want. You could also use glitter glue, water, oil, and food coloring; small seed beads, dried beans, or lego pieces if you’re anti-glitter for mess or eco reasons (eco-friendly glitter exists, now, too!)

  • Warm tap water

  • Liquid craft glue (like Elmers) helps make the water a thicker consistency or glitter glue

  • Food coloring *optional (you can also use watercolor paint pigments or create your own natural food-based dyes)

  • Super glue or a hot glue gun to reinforce the lid. Kids get curious, lids come off… avoid this and glue that lid down. *optional

  • Paper and tape/craft glue or sticker label if you want to make a label for your jar *optional

Prep

  • Remove the label : tips on removing the label

  • Put newspaper down on your work surface to limit the inevitable glitter mess.

Discussion

Ask kids to brainstorm different emotions - just talking about what emotions are helps kids start to develop the capacity to identify their emotional state, the first step to regulation. If they’re old enough, have them think about what they were doing or where they were when they’ve felt those emotions before. Ask them what happened next, and then if that was the reaction they’d want to have again. Talk about a full range of emotions and try to avoid labeling them as “good” or “bad”

Steps

  1. Add warm water and craft glue to the jar, usually about 80% water and a few hefty squeezes of glue is a good ratio. (About 1/2 a cup of glue will slow down the glitter settling, if you want to use it as a timer, should slow the settle to take about 2 minutes)

  2. Add the glitter: 2-3 tablespoons should do it, but let the kids decide (within reason) what feels right

    Optional: use different colored glitter to represent different emotions and feelings, all swirling around together 

  3. Add food coloring

  4. Stir everything together

  5. Top off with water to fill the bottle to the brim

  6. Let it cool without the lid and make a label while you wait

  7. Screw the lid on really tightly, and glue it down for reinforcement

  8. Test it out together to see its power!

How to use the settle jar

Once the jar is complete, sit your child down and let them shake the jar and then place it down in front of them.

Suggested script:

See how when you shake it, the glitter flies around. Do your thoughts or feelings ever feel like that? All swirling around together? When that happens, how does it feel? Sometimes it can be hard to settle them. Let’s focus and watch the glitter swirl together. Look how it’s all settling and resting, now. How does that make you feel? When your feelings get all swirled around, you can shake this jar as hard as you want, and then take big, deep breaths while you watch the glitter settle.

To test it when kids are calm, but to show the “power” of settling, have your child run in place or do jumping jacks for 10 seconds. Have them stop and put their hands over their heart.

Can you feel your heart beating really fast? This is also what happens when you feel upset, your heart beats really fast. Now, shake the Settle Jar and let’s take some deep breaths together while the glitter settles. Now put you hands back over your heart. Does it feel any different?

Quarantine modifications

I didn’t have any glitter or Elmer’s on hand, so I tested several other variations with ingredients I had on hand. Coffee grounds and acrylic paint ended up looking more like a chocolate chip milkshake, but it had the same general impact. Turmeric provided better bright coloring, and using oil or poppy seeds to get the desired impact was relatively successful and it was fun to experiment. If you think your child will benefit from this activity, though, it’s worth the Amazon order for supplies.

More resources and different ways to make settle jars

Six ways to make a Calm Down Jar

Video tutorial Glitter Jar

More on settle jars including a script about talking to your kids about how to use it mindfully.