Calm down glitter

[Peter singing to his brother or sister whenever they cry]
When you feel so mad
And you don't know what to do
Calm. Calm. Down.
TO THE GROUND
- or -
When you feel so sad
And you don't know what to do
Smile. Smile. Smile.

If we try to sing it to Peter when he is upset - it just makes out worse.

A few months ago I felt like I was doing a lot of time outs. It got old and was losing its effectiveness. I found this (see link below) on pintrest and thought it sounded like a great alternative to time out.

Don't get me wrong, we still do plenty of time outs but when I can catch the situation before it gets totally out of hand this has been a great tool to distract and calm calm down to the ground.

http://familysponge.com/parenting/artkids-calm-down-jar/

I meant to share my version once I confirmed that it worked but forgot!

CALM DOWN BOTTLE MATERIALS
- Empty plastic water bottle*
- 2 tubes/2TBLS of glitter glue or regular glue
- 1-2 tubes of glitter (1 tube if you use glitter glue or 2 tubes if you use regular glue)
- 1 drop of food color
- Water
- Super glue

This is pretty simple. You almost can't mess it up except for that I did. Do NOT add to much food coloring. I did and you couldn't see the glitter.

Add glitter, then glue, then warm water. If you add glitter first it all floats to the top and gets really messy. Give it a good shake to get the glue mixed in well. Super glue the lid on.

*Call me crazy but I just didn't think it sounded like a good idea to give my upset/frustrated child a glass jar.

Our rule is that once your are called to a quiet time you get to sit at the kitchen table and watch your glitter until you are ready to resume play and make good choices. I made two glitter bottles because once one boy stops playing they both want to look at their glitter. We all sit at the kitchen table and talk about choices and good behavior. It is just enough of a reset.