My 3 year old has a tendency to stamp her foot and shout “I’m not happy” when she’s not getting her own way. Sometimes both my children need to take a step back. My Pinterest boards are full of calm down jars and I thought they looked fun to make and worth a try. This is kid-friendly, a great activity for re-using old glass jars and the other art supplies for kids are easily available.

Materials needed to make a Valentine calm down jar:
Red glitter glue
Empty jar with the label removed
Warm water
Selection of heart shaped buttons

How to make a Valentine calm down jar:

Fill your empty jar with a couple of inches of the red glitter glue.

Then I added a cup of warm water, put the lid on the jar and shook it until the warm water melted the glitter glue. I undid the lid and added more warm water until the jar was nearly full, about an inch from the top.

I added a handful of the heart-shaped buttons, put the lid on and left the jar and water to cool down. You can use a glue gun to glue inside the lid if you wish.

Then shake your jar and watch the glitter and buttons fly around and eventually settle. Hopefully this gives your child long enough to calm down or re-focus or just forget what they were doing!

This is a really simple craft but fascinated my children. I love that you can use any colours, small toys or even seasons for inspiration. What will you put in yours?