Volcanic Glitter Jar

At first, I wasn’t sure about the “calm down glitter jar” craze. Could a jar full of water and glitter really hold a busy, wiggly, high energy adolescent attention? I wasn’t convinced.

After begging from my children, we decided to try a volcanic, flowing, hot lava glitter jar…. what a mouth full!

First, disclaimer: I am not a super crafty person. I can craft, or at least attempt to, but it’s not my favorite thing. If I’m going to craft with my kids, it has to be easy!

I have to say… easiest craft ever. It literally took 2 minutes for each jar.

So, how do you make a Volcanic Glitter Jar?

You will need…

  1. Water bottle per craft/child. I prefer the plastic VOSS water bottles. You can most definitely use the glass… I considered it. Then I was haunted my visions of my innocent children dropping and shattering said glass bottle… a bottle full of glitter, food coloring, water and oil. Nope! Not going there.
  2. Red food coloring. We used 3 drops. If you use too much, the water will be very dark. If you use too little, it will appear more pink. 3 seemed to be the magic number, but you decide.
  3. Black, white, orange and yellow glitter. The black kind of takes over, which I like, but the other colors add a very cool dimension.

4.   Baby Oil. We tried vegetable oil and it seemed to sink. The baby oil floats to the top, which created a very cool effect.

5.   Water.

Steps:

  1. Take a water bottle and fill it half full of baby oil.
  2. Fill the rest with water, leaving about 1/4 inch at the top for the glitter.
  3. Add the food coloring
  4. Add the glitter
  5. Secure the lid, glue it shut and shake.

At first, the contents will blend. They will slowly separate and create a really rad, swirly, glittery, volcanic spectacle!

The result: My kids LOVE them! Plus, they actually Sit STILL AND WATCH as the volcanic glitter spins around and around and around the jar. They swirl the jar to make lava cyclones. They tip the jar back and forth to create a flowing wave.

We keep ours in the pantry now and whenever one (or all) of my children have a volcanic melt down I ask them to grab a jar and watch the glitter swirly around until they feel more calm.

They don’t always take me up on it, but often they do.

I’ll confess, the jars calm me too on occasion. It’s like hypnotic or something.

Give it a try! I’m sure your kids (and you) will think it’s pretty cool… or hot… or whatever.

Keep it sweet Ya’ll!