Children can explode in tantrums when we least expect it, especially when they are young and their ability to verbalize what they feel is still reduced. We all know that tantrums are a normal part of their development, but the truth is that sometimes it can be very difficult to handle them.
Today we want to provide you with a resource to help the child relax. This is known as "bottle of calm", a Montessori-inspired tool that aims to help the child manage his emotions from concentration, breathing and emotional accompaniment.
What is the bottle of calm?
The fraco of calm is nothing more than a glass jar full of water with glitter. But for practical purposes it is much more, because it is a tool that, well used, can help the child calm down and relax when needed.
In Babies and more Rabbits in children: what can parents do to them?Although it is especially useful for young children, the bottle of calm could also help teenagers with anxiety or stress, and adults, as any other meditation or relaxation resource would.
When it's used?
It is very important to note that this tool should never be used as a punishment or within that framework, but that it is a resource based on respect and emotional accompaniment.In this way, it will be offered to the child when it explodes in tantrums or uncontrollable anger. At that time, the child is unable to reason or listen, so it is required that you previously become aware of your emotional state, and then relax with a tool that helps you channel your frustration.
The bottle of calm will also help parents relax, in addition to allowing us a respectful approach to our children in that moment of tension.
How is it used?
When our child is nervous or has exploded in a tantrum or anger that is difficult to control, Shake the bottle of calm and show it to you with a double objective:
- On the one hand, we will explain that the emotions that you are feeling at that moment (fear, anger, anger, frustration, anxiety, nerves, sadness ...) are like the glitter that moves uncontrollably inside the jar after shaking it.
Are normal emotions that we all have the right to feel at a certain time, but it is necessary that they gradually return to calm to feel good and maintain balance (as does the glitter as the water calms down).
In this way, the child will become aware of their own emotions and understand that there is none that should be repressed or hidden because they are all part of the essence of the human being. But it is important that they do not dominate us and know how to control and manage them.
In Babies and more Children also have bad days: understand them and help them deal with it- On the other hand, the hypnotic effect of glitter moving through the water and gently depositing at the bottom, it will help the child to concentrate, favoring relaxation and deep breathing.
The child should never use the bottle of calm alone, because when they are young they need the respectful accompaniment of an adult that makes them understand what they are feeling. And while accompanying and guiding the child, the adult can also benefit from the positive aspects of this tool.
Once the child and the adult have calmed down, they can resume the conversation they left pending before anger, and seek solutions to what happened from serenity.
The bottle of calm is not a punishment!
As we mentioned earlier, it is very important to emphasize that The bottle of calm should never be used as a punishment, or as a tool while the child is set apart in "the chair or the corner of thinking."
In Babies and more The four "R": the negative consequences of punishment in childrenLikewise, we emphasize the importance that adults have to act from the greatest serenity and awareness possible, because we all know that blackmails, shouts and threats not only do not help solve the problem, but they are very harmful to the child's development.
How to make your own bottle of calm
Making our own bottle of calm is not only something very simple, but it is a fabulous craft to do with children, while we explain what it will consist of and how we will use it. Of course, it is very important perform it with great care and extreme supervision at all times, because the materials we are going to use are toxic.
We are going to need:
- A clear plastic bottle
- Warm or hot water
- Transparent liquid glue
- Glitter of the color you choose
- Food coloring to dye water
- Hot silicone to seal the cap and the child cannot open it
We leave you a video that we have seen on YouTube of the web The Montessori method, where it explains step by step how to make a bottle of calm.
Photos | iStock
