January 22, 2013

Toddler Tantrum Distractor

 

I had an absolutely fan-tabulous three-day weekend!
 
A few last minute plans and *poof*! My parents drove in from Montana and two of my siblings and their families drove up from Utah to hang out with their favorite daughter/sibling for the weekend.
 
I know I'm their favorite. If you don't believe me, just ask me.
 
It was So Much Fun.
 
As always.
 
Pictures coming soon!
 
 ~~~
 
Anyhow... I'm sure many of you have seen these "time out timers/toddler relaxers" floating around the web. I believe the original pin comes from My Crazy Blessed Life.
 
And while I pin a whoooole-lotta stuff to my Pinterest boards that are just sitting there collecting electronic dust, sometimes I actually make the effort to create something I pin.
 
 photo DSC_0633_zps368fa984.jpg
 
In my limited experience as a mother, I have come to understand how true it is that you simply can't logically reason with a little toddler ages three and under. They just don't understand and that's what makes their tantrums so hard and frustrating.
 
I read in a book once that a wise mother understands when toddlers are in this "age of no reason" the key to dissolving a tantrum is not discussion (or yelling) but distraction.
 
So when I saw these, I really wanted to make them as a "distraction" method of calming down my younger upset children. (and even my older ones if they'll let it)
 
 

In the original post, the gal said she had read lots of methods for making these using glass jars. Not wanting to use glass, she found these plastic water bottles at the store and thought they'd be the perfect shape and size for little hands. Plus they were plastic so you won't have to worry about broken glass.
 
 photo smartwater_zpsd191b49d.jpg
 
After having these around for a couple of days, I'd also like to say, be careful about leaving these out. I can just see one of my kids cracking the plastic and spilling glittery glue water all over the carpet.
 
I'm pretty sure I had a nightmare about it last night. *shudder*
  • After peeling off the label, there is sticky glue residue left on the bottle. You can use goo gone, (I used sol-u-mel) or some of the commenters said they just rubbed peanut butter or vegetable oil on the glue and let it sit for a few minutes then scrubbed it off.
 photo DSC_0615_zps5caf0b56.jpg
 
  • I went to Walmart and got two bottles of glitter glue. They also have ultra-fine glitter but I already had a ton of it in my craft supplies.
 
 photo DSC_0634_zps967ac657.jpg
 
  • With the blue glitter glue I added about a quarter bottle of green glitter, and to the silver glitter glue I added light pink, then decided I wanted a bit more color so added just a little bit of bright pink.
  • Be really careful not to use dark colors or it doesn't work very well. It just looks muddy.
 
 photo DSC_0618_zpsb225ba3e.jpg
 
  • Empty the water bottles into another container and fill the bottles about 3/4 full of hot tap water. NOT boiling water and NOT lukewarm or cold or it won't melt the glue. So be sure to use HOT tap water.
  •  
  • Pour in the whole bottle of glitter glue and as much of the ultra-fine glitter as you think you need.
After I shook it up real good this is what it looked like.
 
 photo DSC_0619_zpsc1301c6d.jpg
 
Then I made the pink one.
 
 photo DSC_0623_zps0e3bafb1.jpg
     
  • The bubbles that appear at the top of the bottle didn't seem to want to go away, so I finally just had to squeeze out the bubbles so I could finish filling the water bottles with water.
 
 photo DSC_0631_zpsf750a1cb.jpg
 
And wal-la!
 
  • I made the mistake of super-gluing the lids on before the water in the bottles completely cooled. So the bottles are a bit "dented" from the pressure. So be sure to wait until the water is cool before you super glue the lids on.
 
 photo DSC_0632_zps593a8d64.jpg  photo DSC_0636_zps2ca9ea7c.jpg


The kids were fascinated! They kept wanting to play with them all day!
 
I actually think this will work really well as a tantrum distractor.
 
I'm excited.

6 super cool people speak:

Mama Smith said...

Where was PINTEREST when I was raising up all of you? My goodness...this really looks AWESOME! Even I would be fascinated by it for awhile! (smile)And YES...I can hardly wait for you to post the pictures from this weekend...I did upload them all...and slowly...working on the pictures...Some really FUN ones! (smile)

Larsen said...

Why not just glitter and water? Hmmm. Very fun and interesting. I'm still glad i'm not on pintrest- but it's not a problem. I let you and other fun friends find the really good ideas and when you blog them or put them on facebook, then I have all great ideas, minus the electronic dust of pintrest ideas. See, I'm truly grateful for you!

Serene is my name, not my life! said...

Gina - I believe the idea of the glitter glue is so the glitter settles slower. If it's just glitter and water then the glitter settles really fast.

I also read NOT to use elmers glue and glitter. The elmers glue leaves the water a milky white color. :)

Gina said...

I made these also and totally swear by them. I made a big one (a 1 liter soda bottle) and a small one (12 ounce soda bottle), a long time out and a short time out. They work like a charm. My kids to get them themselves when they are put on time out. They totally calm down, and sometimes shake he bottle up to voluntarily extend their timeouts.

Susan Anderson said...

Pretty neat!

=)

Mary Lou said...

Serene....
"I know I'm their favorite. If you don't believe me, just ask me.". Crack. Me. Up!! ;-D
I am looking forward to pictures!! ;)
I love, love, love that photograph of your boy!! He looked so intent staring at the bottle!! ;-D
--Raelyn

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...