Intrigued?
I was too, by two parenting pins involving both.
Let’s start with the glitter. This pin showcases a glitter jar/bottle to use during time outs.
You simply shake the jar to get a nice glitter flurry. Your child watches the glitter until it falls…
to the bottom.
This can help soothe them if they’re throwing a tantrum and also lets them know when time out is up.
I timed how long it took for the glitter to fall in our bottle, and it was only a couple of minutes.
We haven’t used it too many times for time outs yet, but I’ve used it to help my children sit still during family scripture reading time. Seriously, it works like a dream. I really need to make a second one so they don’t fight over who gets to hold the bottle.
Will the novelty wear off…probably. But for now, it’s a positive tactic to help my kids manage their feelings…and jitters, a little better.
For the recipe/tutorial go here. She uses a glass jar. I felt safer using this recycled water bottle and hot gluing the lid to the top. Either way, it works.
Second, blue slips.
This is what the pin says:
“Make a homemade “Correction” can and fill it with tickets or slips of paper with various consequences written on them. Instead of giving your child a time-out, send her to the can for a slip. A few ideas might include no TV or computer for a night, early bedtime, or an extra chore. Toss in a blank piece of paper, a “mercy” ticket. This gives you an opportunity to talk about how God gives us mercy even when we deserve punishment. ”
I thought it was a fine idea, so I printed a list of chores on blue paper, cut them into slips, and added them to a mason jar.
My kids thought it was great too, until they got their first blue slip. 🙂
Our jar is exclusively filled with simple chores right now. (Do you not love how Reid is “reading” his slip upside down?..ha ha).
I wanted the chores to be simple enough that they could do them independently and in about 10 minutes or less. It gives just enough time to help them think about what they did, and just enough distraction to give them an outlet for their emotions, and help them reroute their behavior.
The times that the jar seems to be the most effective is when the boys are fighting. They each get a slip and have a job to do apart from each other. They can’t fight and they get a break from the heated situation. If one of the boys gets a mercy slip while the other one doesn’t (which has already happened), the child with the mercy slip has to find a quiet activity to do away from the child completing a chore.
Let me tell you. My house is going to be CLEAN! 🙂 But that’s not the only reason I’m excited for this new method.
It helps me to have a go to reaction when things get chaotic, so I don’t lose it. The boys get a constructive way to vent their anger as well…well most of the time. We’ve had some moments of resistance, but then they just get another blue slip. All other activities stop until all outstanding blue slip chores are completed. So if the natural consequence of laying on the floor in despair instead of doing your chores, means that you miss watching a movie with the rest of the family, so be it. 😉
As you can probably tell, I really like the pins this week. Will these methods stick long term? That has yet to be determined. I’ve cycled through lots of different discipline methods over the last 7 1/2 years, so I can’t be certain. But I’m hopeful the glitter and blue slips will work.
Have you tried either of these parenting tactics as well? What other creative methods have you used that you would like to share?
I would love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend!
I hear you about needing a reaction for when my kids misbehave. Perhaps I should make a glitter jar for myself!
I love the glitter jar idea for the wee ones. I have a 2 year old who is in serious need of distraction when the temper flies. The blue slip jar is a fabulous idea for the older kids. I only wish my middle guy was a bit older because it would be the perfect solution to the sibling fights. For now I'm going to give it a try for the oldest and see how it goes. And I hear you on the various
ha-ha super metod!!!!I liked the jar with glitter, do not think it's very calming) nervous and I think adults will do)
I did the glitter water bottle thing. I have a pink one for my daughter and a blue one for my son. My daughter is 5 so I put enough glue in there to have the glitter settle after 5 min. Likewise for my 2 yr. old son. We use it every time for timeouts. Sure, it doesn't magically calm them. Occasionally my son will kick it and will have to start over, but I like it simply because it keeps
(My 2 year old son has 2 min. till the glitter settles…sorry. Didn't make that very clear!)
I love the glitter idea. It would probably be super calming to a child with special needs as well. I like the blue slip idea as well. I will have to save these ideas for later. thanks for sharing!
I love both these ideas! Thanks for sharing.
Oh…you can also use popsicle sticks to write things on…that's what I do…and have another jar with reward activities when they do something good!
I love both of these ideas. My youngest two at home are teenagers…seriously thinking of doing the blue slip idea with them!! 🙂
These ideas are great! I have been wanting to try the glitter jar for awhile now!
Those are very good ideas! I think I should try the glitter jar for 2 year old. Now to buy some glitter… =)
Oh yes, glitter jar! Kind of just want to have that around the house! Good idea doing it in plastic too…smart mama.
i'm totally writing a list of chores in about two minutes!
I love these ideas. I was just talking with my sister about my kids fighting or disobeying and what works for her (she has 6 kids and is a GREAT mom!). I'm for sure wanting to use these! Especially the jar.
I think my 4 year old could do the chore thing, but he is resistant to helping when he is upset, so we would have to spend time getting him used to this idea of parenting. The 2 year old can't do much as far as housework, but maybe next year this will come in handy. Love the glitten jar.
I have been wanting to try the glitter jar for a while because I think it would work wonders. This week a read the same pin and we tried a distraction activity. When I need to put my 2 year old in time out, I have a hard time getting her to stay there so I handed her a puzzle and told her she couldn't get up until she built it. It worked great and helped her calm down and actually sit for
Are you worried that the kids will learn to associate chores with punishment? Have you seen this happening or not?
I love both of these ideas! The blue slips are definitely going to be an addition in my house. We have way too much bickering and eye rolls. This may just be the trick that I have been looking for!
I really liked these techniques when I first read this last week. Like the concept of both of them. And, as always, your photos are beautiful.
So… is it still working? 🙂