Glitter Jars in the Classroom

Making a glitter jar is an activity you can do with students to introduce them to how their mind works when experiencing difficult emotions and how to calm down during difficult times.

When you pay attention to your senses, you shift your focus away from your emotions and thoughts. Instead of worrying about the future or the past, you focus your mind and reduce the brain chatter. Think meditation - with a focal point! It’s a simple and a very powerful strategy.

First - make the glitter jar! You can use any clear bottle or jar (cheap ones can be found @michaelsstores). Fill it with clear @elmersproducts glue or glitter glue. Then add glitter!

But don’t just make the jars and store them in desks. Teach their purpose! Story is a powerful framework for teaching Social Emotional Learning skills to students. By helping students to make the connection between the glitter and their thoughts, we can help them to manage their emotions.

Moody Cow Meditates is the story of a cow who has a bad day and his grandfather comes to help him deal with his anger and mixed up feelings. To help him settle his emotions, they create a mind jar, and use it to focus on meditation. (There is a glitter jar recipe at the back of the book.)

Now, let’s use our jars!​
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• Tell students that the glitter represents our thoughts and emotions. 
• Shake it and tell students that sometimes our minds are full of thoughts, swirling around like the glitter in the jar.
• We have all different thoughts. Those thoughts and emotions are okay to have, but we need to be able to manage them appropriately.
• One way to do this is to let your thoughts settle like the glitter in the jar. When our minds are calm it’s easier to work out problems and to talk about whatever it is that is causing us to be upset.
• Now, shake up the jar until the glitter is swirling wildly, and as the glitter settles and we sit still, notice our breath and our thoughts settling down, too.

The purpose of a glitter jar is to help students learn focusing skills, calm down, and figure out that paying attention to their senses helps them regulate emotions. So practice with the jar daily at times when students are already calm. Remind students of the story to help them recall the purpose of the glitter jar! 

Shake the jars, take practice taking deep, calming breaths and watching the glitter settle as our emotions do too.

Happy Teaching!
By Miss Rae