Calm or Crazy?

 

Ta-da! The "Calm Down Jar" or "Mind Jar" was put to the test by my own personal and trustworthy glitter jar testers themselves... my kiddos. Thank you to Pinterest via Dump Your Frump Blog I started my morning by making a trip to purchase all the items needed to make the jars which included, mason jars, glitter glue, tubes of glitter and food coloring. Because my kids are younger and have little hands I decided to purchase the smaller 8 oz. jelly jars which also have embossing on them. The embossing works great as a grip vs. the smooth ones. The total cost for these items was under $9 and that included my case of 12 mason jars!



I found this pin a few weeks ago and was a little skeptical while reading that it could be used as an alternative to time out with children. I mean how is glitter in a pretty and colorful jar going to get my kids to relax?! So with curiousity at hand we made them. My son wanted green and my daughter, of course, wanted pink, such big helpers. The jars were immediately put to the test .Both the kids loved shaking them and watching the glitter fall to the bottom of the jar, however with children as young as mine (ages 2 and 3) I think the concept for a type of "meditation" was not accomplished. They kept calling it their pixie dust (from Hook on the Disney channel) and running around the house. Not exactly the reaction I was expecting but they were laughing and having fun so I didn't mind. I made one for myself too. I shook it and watched as the glitter slowly swirled and fell to the bottom of the jar. I did feel a moment of peace focusing only on the glitter and putting all other thoughts aside.

I don't think I could really put an age on this because it could be used for different purposes in children of all ages. Take an infant for instance, studies show that as early as 2 weeks old they can tell the difference between a red or green object and this glitter jar can help in developing eye/hand coordination, visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. I think it is a great idea, I loved it, my kids loved it and for us it became not only a fun creation for the imagination like pixie dust but we also used it as a learning tool. We made multiple ones to practice our colors and each time they got the color right we shook the jar to make it rain glitter.  We may not all use it for the same purpose but whether it's a learning tool, pixie dust, calming or mind jar I will for sure catagorize this as a "Definitely Do" for every family!

Here's the link: http://www.dumpyourfrump.com/2011/09/29/use-a-mind-jar-to-calm-yourself/