How a Montessori calming jar is built and what is it for
The ability to manage their emotions is a skill that develops over time, and it is important that children are also provided with the right tools to control their emotions. Not only adults, in fact, are prey to stress, anger or anxiety: even the little ones have to deal with it, and a creative and useful way to do this can be to resort to the jar of calm, a tool inspired by the Montessori method.
Maria Montessori is one of the best-known figures in the field of pedagogy, and her tense approach to empowering children by making them aware of their actions is widespread throughout the world. Knowing how to manage anger and stress is essential to develop a balanced personality, and the jar of calm provides the tool to calm the attacks of anxiety or anger of the little ones, shifting their attention to the relaxing flow of the materials within it.
It is not, therefore, a form of punishment: on the contrary, it is an object that helps children - but also adults! - to free the mind from all thoughts that contribute to losing control. A mind free from negative thoughts promotes relaxation and reconciles a peaceful state of mind, or a condition that allows educators to reason with children about the reasons for the episode of anger or tears.
How to make the calming jar
The jar of calm can be easily made at home, with slightly different methods depending on the ingredients chosen: these are small variations, to customize the final result a little so that it is really able to attract the attention of the little ones. .
Ingredients
To build a jar of calm you will need:
- A transparent container: this can be a glass or plastic jar or bottle.
- Hot water.
- A bowl to mix the various ingredients. Better if equipped with a spout to pour everything into the container more easily. Otherwise, help yourself with a funnel.
- A kitchen whisk.
- Liquid watercolors (but you can try using food dyes too).
- Glitter.
- Washable transparent liquid glue, or glitter glue. There are also other alternatives: with corn syrup, tacky glue (polyvinyl acetate glue), clear liquid soap, glycerin.
As for the container: keep in mind that the jar or bottle will be the "lens" through which the little ones observe the movements of the various materials inside, so it is important that they have a surface that is as smooth as possible and perfectly transparent. It is equally important that the shape and size allow children to pick them up and shake them.
Glass, therefore, is the one that remains more transparent but is also heavier and more fragile. Plastic, on the other hand, especially if it is thick and resistant enough, can be a good alternative, as long as it does not become dull or scratched. Depending on the age of the children who will use these objects, therefore, choose glass jars such as those of jams and preserves that have the mouth wide enough to make it easy to pour the materials inside them, or even bottles that do not have too much neck. narrow, preferably with a capacity of half a liter or less. A convenient alternative are also water bottles, again in transparent plastic and smooth barrel.
As for glitter, we generally recommend the thin-grained one, but you can use it in the size you want, or maybe mix different ones, for example by adding some slightly larger shaped pieces. You can also use glitter glue, which makes the whole compound more viscous, so it slows the fluctuations of the glitter in the jar a lot. If the movements seem too slow, the next time you dilute the glitter glue with a little hot water. By using glitter glue, which is typically colored, you might as well not use dyes.
Finally, the colours: blue, the colour of the sky and water, is the one most commonly associated with tranquility and calm, but green and purple also work. The idea is to create a substance with intense shades, so as to give life to an unfathomable material in which the gleams of glitter emerge and in which you can see all the swirls and eddies caused by the shaking of the container, which would stand out a lot less in clear fluids.
How to prepare it
Creativo
With clear washable glue
A glue similar to Elmer's Washable School Glue allows you to create cans of calm in which the swirls and swirls of glitter continue to swirl for 3 or 4 minutes. You will need 80% water and 20% glue. So consider the capacity of the jar / bottle, and leave some free space in case you need to add glue or water to get the right viscosity.
1. Pour the water and glue into the bowl, then add the color in small quantities, until the desired shade is obtained, finally pour the glitter.
2. Stir with a whisk to mix the ingredients, possibly adjusting the quantities to achieve the desired effect.
3. When you are satisfied, quickly turn the whisk and hurry to pour everything into the container: in this way the glitter will not remain in the bowl.
4. Close the lid and check that even inside the jar / bottle there is the desired effect, and if so open the lid again and let it cool well before closing again (you can also seal with quick-setting glues) and use the jar of calm.
With glitter glue
This jar requires a little more attention and trying to get to the right dosage for each type of container, but it's worth trying to make it because after shaking the jar or bottle, the glitter keeps spinning slowly for a long time in hypnotic way (sometimes even about an hour!).
The starting proportions for hot water and glue are the same as above (80 and 20), but it's best to start with less glitter glue, possibly adding in small amounts until you get the desired consistency.
Since there is no need to mix the glitter poured apart well, in this case you can try to prepare everything directly in the jar, shaking vigorously to mix the various components, even if it always gets better with the passage in the bowl.
With corn syrup
This is an alternative to the transparent glue of the first method, with a similar result in terms of glitter swirls. The proportions are one third of glue and two thirds of hot water, and it is prepared as the first.
With tacky glue
If you use this type of glue, you will need ¼ of glue and ¾ of water. The directions for preparing it are the same as for the first type.
With clear liquid soap
It is the best choice if you want to see the glitter swirling very fast, but it ends after about a minute, so perhaps it has a less "hypnotic" effect than in other cases. The proportions are 50/50.
With glycerin
It is an alternative to soap: swirls of fast glitter that disappear after just over a minute. You will need ⅓ of glycerin and ⅔ of water. However, if you combine it with transparent glue you could increase the movement time.
Have you prepared one of these recipes but it seems to you that the glitter does not move? It means the compound is too viscous. You will then have to empty the jar back into the bowl, and slowly add hot water until you get a fluid consistency at the right point. If the glitter is only on top, you can help by adding a drop or two of dish soap.
The benefits of the calming jar
Creativo
The jar of calm is considered particularly suitable for children aged 2 to 5, in which it allows to bring the heart rate back to normal levels after the rise in values caused by the access of anger or crying, but adults could also benefit from it.
It is considered a method inspired by the Montessori method because it pursues two purposes: to obtain greater autonomy for the child, who is stimulated to regain self-control on his own; and development of concentration, as one is driven to free the mind from negative and disordered thoughts and emotions, which consume energy in an unproductive way, focusing instead only on something simple and pleasant.
When the child moves the jar, in fact, his attention is captured by the hypnotic flow of the components, thus distracting it from the reasons that had caused the outbreak of tears and agitation. At that moment, parents and educators can ask the little ones to take deep breaths, or count, so as to cause immediate relaxation. At that point, the best conditions are created to reason together on the reasons that had caused the alteration.
Given the ability of this method to stimulate concentration, it can also be useful before doing homework, to prepare the little ones to direct attention in the right direction.
Have you ever used the Montessori jar of calm?
