{"id":13513,"date":"2019-05-30T07:11:30","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T07:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/?p=13513"},"modified":"2026-04-01T04:06:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T04:06:30","slug":"how-to-create-a-glitter-jar-for-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/how-to-create-a-glitter-jar-for-kids\/","title":"How to Create a Glitter Jar for Kids","content":{"rendered":"\n

Kids, especially struggling ones, tend to act <\/em>out their difficulties rather than share them in words. We adults are often only marginally better. When words are unavailable, it helps to find other ways to demonstrate the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A snow globe or glitter jar is one of the most powerful visual metaphors for that connection; it illustrates how mindfulness<\/a>\u2014the cultivation of stillness in the face of swirling chaos of life\u2014affects us. At first I used to do this practice only with young kids, but I\u2019ve since found that even teens enjoy it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Make a Glitter Jar <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can use a mason jar, a spice jar, or even a plastic water bottle for this practice. Be sure to use glitter that sinks rather than floats. Adding some glycerin to the water slows down the fall of the glitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’d prefer to avoid using glitter, you can make a more eco-friendly version by using different-colored beads<\/a>, a mix of food coloring and oil<\/a>, or even pieces of LEGO you already have around the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fill the jar to the top with water. Have your children pick three colors of glitter: one to represent thoughts, one to represent feelings, and one to represent behaviors (or \u201curges to do things\u201d). Drop a few pinches of each color glitter into the water, which represents their mind, and maybe a few drops of food coloring. Seal the jar with its lid or duct tape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With each event they name, swirl and turn the jar, demonstrating how it becomes difficult to keep track and see clearly what our thoughts, feelings, and urges are.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ask the children what kinds of things will make the glitter in the jar swirl. Encourage answers that reflect distressing events (fights with siblings, losing in sports) and positive ones (getting a good grade, making a new friend), events in the foreground (sick siblings) and events in the background (scary stories on the news). With each event they name, swirl and turn the jar, demonstrating how it becomes difficult to keep track and see clearly what our thoughts, feelings, and urges are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Use a Glitter Jar for Mindfulness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are many variations of this practice, depending on what you want to emphasize. My colleague Jan Mooney, who often works with groups of kids, uses a giant jar that all the kids can add glitter to. Each color represents different feelings the kids have. Other variations include using a few plastic beads to represent behaviors and watching until the behaviors separate from thoughts and feelings. Kids can also try to focus on just one color, or one piece of glitter until it settles, or all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your script can go something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n