A meditation, or mind jar, is a jar filled with liquid, like water and glitter. The child shakes the jar which sends the glitter spinning and spiraling. The glitter is like a busy mind, and mind full of thoughts maybe even negative thoughts that swirls and feels crazy. Has the glitter settles down and the child watches it breathing deep into their belly, they can focus on the glitter and let their mind settle down.

These new kids on the block have a special something added to them~ we created layers in the bottle by adding oil colored with a bit of food coloring to the water. This makes it take longer for the contents to settle down giving the child more time to breathe and calm down. It also makes the liquid a bit more sparkly.

Inspired by the excitement over the snowglobes we made earlier this year, I decided we should try another watery glitter project. This one has a different purpose than to capture a bit of whimsical winter in a bottle. Taking a cue from one of my family's favorite books, Peaceful Piggy Meditation, we decided to make special meditation jars with personality!

This was a simple happy project. First we read our Piggy Meditation book. We talked about how sometimes our minds just won't stop thinking or maybe we feel really sad or angry. We talked about how taking a few deep breaths and finding a calm place inside ourselves can help us to feel better. Then I showed the kids a Meditation Friend that I had made as an example for our project. I shook it up and explained that the glitter swirling around inside is like our thoughts when they are overwhelming or angry or sad. Next we took a few deep breaths while watching the glitter settle down in the jar, and while feeling our thoughts settle inside our minds. We played with the Meditation Friend pretending it was mad or just had too many thoughts by shaking it up and then we helped our friend calm down with some big, deep breaths.

After our discussion each kid made their own Meditation Friend.

What you need to make your own ~

Bottle or Jar with water tight lid (I used plastic water bottles to prevent breakage but glass would work fine as well.)
Water
Glitter or Glitter Glue (Glitter glue will make it take longer for the "thoughts" to settle down. Use warm water if you choose to use glue)
Googly Eyes
Decorations (We used peel and stick foamies)
Ribbon or Yarn
Fabric Scraps

Simply place water and glitter in the bottle and secure shut. Then have the child decorate their bottle to look like a face with googly eyes and any other materials you have on hand. I used peel and stick foamies because, well, they are easy! Then give the new friend a hat by securing a piece of cloth on top of the bottle with ribbon or yarn. Easy Peasy!

In the days following this project, I had a number of the students who made these tell me that they used it when they felt sad or lonely or mad and, that it helped! Yeah!

Please Note: This activity was based on an activity at the end of this amazing, fun book. My six-year-old loves this book. We re-read it often when she is going through a hard time in her life and it seems to really speak to her.

Peaceful Piggy Meditation