I have to admit, I cheated on this one. I bought supplies to make these “Calm Down Jars” instead of using what I already had. However, I wanted to make them for several reasons. One, they are super fun. Two, this is a very tense situation we are in right now. I tend towards anxiety on a good day, and while I work really hard to cope with that on my own and not let it affect my kids, I don’t exist in a vacuum, and kids are perceptive. We can all use a little stress relief, and people find things like lava lamps, jellyfish aquariums, and these kind of shaker jars very soothing.
So while yes, I could have used some of the mason jars I already have for this, Finn throws stuff when he tantrums, and I really really did not want to clean up a bunch of broken glass, corn syrup, and glitter if he decided to chuck one at the wall. I bought plastic jars from amazon, but when I got them I realized they are pretty much just peanut butter jars, so if you do not want to buy anything still, you can just reuse a peanut butter jar. Some people also recommend reusing Voss water bottles, if you happened to stockpile fancy Norwegian water before the pandemic hit our shores. I also bought oil based food coloring because i wanted to make the oil jars and I didn’t own any. And I got new glitter because my husband mostly won’t let us have any in the house. (I have included a photo that explains that rule…)
In the end, this is a very simple, easy craft that can fill some time in the making and, once made, help keep the edge off while we navigate the weird situation we are currently in.
For the glitter jars, you will need:
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Jars, any kind, mason jars, old Voss water bottles, peanut butter jars, etc (I used these.)
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Light corn syrup (You can also use glue, just a bit less of it, about 20% instead of 33%. Also, clear glue is better than white glue.)
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Very warm water
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GLITTER! (Must be fine, don’t listen to anyone who says differently)
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Food coloring
Most tutorials suggest mixing this all together in a mixing bowl and then pouring it into the jars, but I am hella lazy, so I just filled the jar about 1/3 full of corn syrup, added the water and food coloring (i would not do more than like 3 drops of food coloring total), put the lid on, shook it up a bunch, added the glitter, then topped it off with more water if necessary. If all of the glitter is just floating at the top, you can add about 3 drops of dish soap, and that should help. We made a glitter fail jar that used HUGE glitter and it never did mix in. So don’t use big glitter. Keep it fine. And keep it to about 1.5-2 tablespoons of glitter. That should provide plenty of swirly, glittery fun.
For the oil jars, you will need:
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Jars
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Baby oil (You could probably get away with a light colored cooking oil here too)
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Oil based food coloring (like these)
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Toothpicks
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Water
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Water based food coloring (which is just the standard kind)
This is Nico’s favorite jar. He really loves mixing it up and watching the colors separate. Plus, since we used a mix of green and blue, when the colors are mixed together they make aqua, which is his favorite color. Start by filling your jar about half full of baby oil. Dip a toothpick into your oil based food dye, then swirl it around in the baby oil until you hit your desired vibrancy. Then add water based food coloring (of a different color) to warm water, and pour it into the jar. Seal and shake. IMPORTANT: For this one, I would absolutely caution against using too much food dye. On our first attempt, we decided to do blue oil and red water, and we used WAY too much red food coloring. It made our jar almost completely opaque. I ended up pouring it all into a Ziploc bag, letting it settle, then draining the red water out by snipping a corner of the bag and pinching it closed when we hit the oil (this is also the low budget way to separate the fat from the drippings to make gravy). On our second try we reused the probably still too dark blue oil, but this time added water with like one drop of water based food coloring.
Shaken up
At rest
This is the one with way too much dye…
A more appropriate amount of dye
And this is why we enforce a strict “no glitter in the house” rule…