The Calming Bottle: A Simple Tool That Actually Works
I was on back on NBC CT Live! this morning where Anthony Carpino and I demonstrated how to make a Calming Bottle, and more importantly, talked about why it’s a tool your child can use long after the crafting is done.
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The Calming Bottle and how to make it. A calming bottle is any clear bottle. You don’t need to buy a special bottle. You can upcycle water or juice bottles, just be sure it’s plastic. Fill with water 3/4 of the way, add any little ‘treasures’ you have on hand (food coloring, glitter, beads, small charms, pebbles, seashells, whatever catches your child’s eye). Once the objects and treasures are in the bottle, add a touch more water, almost to the top. Now here’s an important tip: use super-glue on the inside of the bottle cap before you twist the cap on. This ensures that the cap won’t come off. Once it’s glued and secured, let your child shake it! Look for the treasures inside. Watch the glitter move around. And, watch it slowly settle.
There are no rules about what to put inside the bottle. Let your child use their imagination and have fun!
The bottle is more than a fun craft, it’s a tool for kids and parents. When a child is overstimulated, their sympathetic nervous system is activated and in charge. Their body is in a state of alarm, and no amount of “calm down” reaches them. They need some space and time to settle themselves.
Sitting in a quiet spot, getting a stuffy to snuggle, grabbing something to drink are all great things to help a child calm. Focusing on something can help too. Focused attention invites the parasympathetic nervous system in. Their heart rate slows and breathing starts to even out. And their body begins to find its way back, or regulate.
I tell kids: “The glitter is like your nervous system. Sometimes we just need to sit and let it settle.” The glitter acts as a visual map of that process. Showing your child what is happening internally. Your child can watch regulation happening in real time, helping them understand their body’s response. This knowledge is powerful.
When do you use it? You don’t want to make it during a meltdown or even use it at the peak of the meltdown. The bottle is most useful before things escalate (like a distraction), or after, once your child is settled. Use it to help them understand what happened. Kids are often scared by their own responses and this is a tool to help them gain insight — and control.
It also can be a tool for mindfulness and wonderment. The sequence is simple: shake it, set it down, watch it. What a cool tool for kids to look at, find treasures inside, get lost in the objects and swirling glitter. In our world there is so much to catch our kids attention, to move them from one thing to another, this simple project can serve as a way to sit and wonder and just relax.
Summer energy is real. This is one project that is simple, fun and can even act as a tool to help your child.
