Totally Awesome Calm Down Jars

Calm down jars are all the rage right now… and for good reason!

These little bottles are an amazing resource for us parents! As the name describes they are great for calming down kids who are in timeout, bored & fidgety in the car, anxious or struggling with sensory overload. My favorite part is how easy they are to make and how many different variations are out there! Let your kids choose one of the following that sounds the most appealing to them and go-to-town creating that one together!

FIRST, GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES!

There are so many cool ways to make a calm down jar! Your supplies will vary a little depending on which project you choose but for a basic glitter calm down bottle you'll need:

Base Bottle This VOSS bottle is my personal favorites because of it's perfect shape & size. Smart water also makes a great bottle for a calm down jar.

Water

Glitter Glue (or clear gel glue with glitter)

Optional: Travel Sized Jar I love the idea below of making travel sized calm down jars using empty travel sized baby oil bottles.

Additional supplies will vary based on which project you choose.

Make sure your bottle is sterile & clean before you start.

Super glue or hot glue the lid shut when you're finished.

Alphabet Discovery Bottle

Here's what you need to make your own:

A clean empty water bottle.

Clear(ish) colored corn syrup

Big Letter Beads

Hot Water (just a teeny, tiny bit)

First, put the letter beads into the bottle. Next, add enough corn syrup on top of it that it covers about 80-85% of the inside of the bottle. Add a very slight amount of hot water and shake. Then continue to add corn syrup and water until you get your desired flow.

The ratio I used for my own bottle was about 95% corn syrup and 5% water.

Initially, your bottle will look "streaky" as the corn syrup settles. It can take a few hours to fully blend.

GLOWING SENSORY BOTTLE FOR BEDTIME

Ingredients:

Durable plastic bottle

Hair Gel nearly full bottle.

Glitter Glue a squirt.

Glow in the dark paint a squirt.

Super Glue

Glow-in-the-dark mini stars.

Squirt the glitter glue in the bottom, and add a small amount of glow in the dark paint. The glitter glue will add some sparkle and the paint will add just a hint of glow to the whole bottle. The gel is great for resistance so the stars don't immediately fall to the bottom of the bottle, and the little air bubbles inside the gel simulate all the little stars in the galaxy.

Super glue the lid onto the bottle. VERY important! You don't want your child waking up in a soup of sticky hair-gel!

LEGO Calm Down Jar

What You Need:

Recycled Jar ( I love VOSS plastic jars) Although, this is an Argo Tea Jar and the contour of the jar works great for holding it.

Glitter Glue

Extra Glitter (for extra shine)

Food Coloring

Warm Water

Lego Minifigures

We started by adding in about half a bottle of Elmer's Glitter Glue.

Then we added in warm water, enough to almost fill the jar.

Add in a tad bit of food coloring and extra glitter

Finally, add in one Lego minifigure. Put on the lid and tightly secure it.

Make a Hurricane in a Jar

Hurricane Supplies

a glass jar

some soap that contains Glycol Stearate

water

food colouring is optional

How to Make a Hurricane

All you do is fill the jar up to approximately 1/4 to 1/3 full of soap, then add water to fill up the rest of the space.

When the water gets to the top, keep it running until all the bubbles overflow and are gone.

If you want to add colour, drop maybe 1 or 2 drops of food colouring into your jar. Screw the cap on tightly and SHAKE!

MINION SENSORY BOTTLE WITH LOOM BANDS

HOW TO MAKE YOUR MINION SENSORY BOTTLE

1. FILL THE BOTTLE 3/4 OF THE WAY WITH WATER AND GAVE TWO GOOD FIRM SQUEEZES OF HAIR GEL INTO THE WATER BOTTLE.

2. PUT IN YOUR PACKAGE OF YELLOW LOOM BANDS.

3. STIR EVERYTHING UP TO MIX THE GEL AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE.

4. FILL UP WITH A BIT MORE WATER.

5. CAP TIGHTLY AND SEAL WITH HOT GLUE IF NECESSARY. WE DO NOT.

6. ADD A STRIP OF BLUE TAPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE FOR PANTS.

7. ADD A STRIP OF BLACK TAPE TO TOP OF BOTTLE FOR GOGGLE STRAPS

8. CUT A CIRCLE OF FOIL OR SILVER PAPER A LITTLE BIT BIGGER THAN YOUR GOOGLE EYE.

9. TAPE OR GLUE GOOGLEY EYE TO CIRCLE AND TAPE OR GLUE BOTH TO THE BLACK TAPE.

Make an ocean in a bottle with 3 easy ingredients.

TO MAKE OUR OCEAN IN A BOTTLE, WE USED:

water

cooking oil

blue food colouring

large bottle

funnel

MAKING YOUR OCEAN BOTTLE:

Fill approximately 1/3 of your bottle with water.

Add several drops of food colouring.

Have your child shake the bottle to disperse the food colouring.

Travel Size Calm Down Jar

Making this travel size calm down jar is super easy!

What you'll need:

Travel size bottle of baby oil (peel off any labels)

Glitter

Super glue

Small sharp knife

Add glitter to the bottle.

Put some super glue around the inside of the bottle cap and screw it on.

That's it! You now have a travel size calm down jar that you can take with you wherever you go with your little ones!

SHARK SENSORY BOTTLE

Supplies:

Clear Bottle

Blue Glitter Glue

Blue Glitter

Water

Gray Foam Shark

Directions:

Squeeze glitter glue into clean, clear bottle. You can use all the glitter glue or only some. Caden decided about half the glitter glue was enough.

Add some fine loose glitter.

Fill the bottle with water and foam shark cutout.

Close the bottle cap tightly and shake the bottle to get it all mixed up!

Watch the glitter and shark float around! Enjoy!