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Home / Early Learning / Sensory / Make These Gorgeous Glitter Jars in a Rainbow of Colors

Make These Gorgeous Glitter Jars in a Rainbow of Colors

Shared by Mary Catherine 9 Comments

These rainbow glitter jars are sure to be a hit, whether you love or hate glitter. Read below how to make them.

Glitter!

That one word can strike fear in the hearts of glitter-phobes, while simultaneously bringing a smile to the faces of people like me. Where do you stand?

Glitter jars in rainbow colors

Related: Rainbow Experiment

Table of Contents

  • How to Make Rainbow Glitter Jars
    • Materials We Used
    • Directions for Making Glitter Jars
  • Teaching with Rainbow Glitter Jars
  • A Full Week of Playful Rainbow Theme Ideas
  • More Rainbow Sensory Bottles

How to Make Rainbow Glitter Jars

Either way, these glitter jars are just what you need. Enough glitter for lots of sparkle and shine, but it’s all in a sealed container!

They were inspired by our falling heart glitter jars, only with more (you guessed it . . .) glitter and colors.

Materials We Used

I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Empty, clean jars or bottles
Light corn syrup
Glitter liquid watercolors
Glitter
Water

Rainbow Glitter Jars for kids to make and use

Related: Pumpkin Glitter Jar for Preschool

Directions for Making Glitter Jars

Make sure to start with a clean and empty bottle or jar. I’ve used water bottles and mason jars, but this time I used seltzer water bottles we had on-hand.

They’re glass, so I wouldn’t use them with younger kiddos. My son, his buds, and my preschool students are all supervised and know how to handle the jars.

Measure out 3/4 cup of light corn syrup in a glass measuring cup.

Then add about 1/2 cup of hot water to it and stir everything together. Pour the mixture into the empty jar or bottle.

Next, add a few drops of the glitter liquid watercolors. These will color the water and corn syrup, while adding some sparkle in the form of very fine glitter.

From there, add whatever kinds of glitter you have around. My son and I were a little too entertained to add a variety of glitters to each bottle. I’d just received a huge amount of glitter for my birthday, so we had tons to choose from.

Put the top on securely, shake, and watch everything swirl around before settling!

See them in action here:

Rainbow glitter jars - great for calming down, sensory observations, science, and math

Related: Butterfly Life Cycle Sensory Bottles

Teaching with Rainbow Glitter Jars

In addition to being just plain fun, these glitter jars pack a lot of learning.

To start off with, making the jars can be a science experiment. Bring out different shapes, sizes, and weights of glitter.

Have the children predict which glitter they think will settle the fastest.

Which do they think will take the longest amount of time to settle?

They can map out their predictions and record their observations once they see the jars in action.

Rainbow glittler jars - yellow

Related: Rainbow Color Collage Art Project for Kids

Exploring colors is another way to use these jars.

I think they’ll fit perfectly into discussions of rainbows and the order of colors in the rainbow.

Each morning, mix up the glitter jars. Then challenge kids to rearrange them in rainbow order!

Have children go on color hunts inside and outside.

They can sort what they found with the appropriate sensory bottle.

These are the perfect calm down jars, too.

There is just something so relaxing about watching the glitter swirl and settle.

The jars act as a focal point for kiddos who just need a little break during the day.

How would you and your kiddos use these rainbow glitter jars?

I’d love to hear how it goes if you make your own set!

Rainbow Glitter Jars - perfect for kids to make as calming bottles or colorful discovery bottles

Related: Turkey Sensory Bottle

A Full Week of Playful Rainbow Theme Ideas

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

rainbow lesson plans preschool
home preschool rainbow lesson plans

Get yours here > > > Preschool Classroom | Home Preschool

More Rainbow Sensory Bottles

This post is a part of Preschool Inspirations’ Discovery Bottles Blog Hop. Check out some more awesome rainbow-themed jars!

Rainbow Counting Bears Sensory Bottle | Preschool Inspirations

Simple Rainbow Calm Down Jars | Lemon Lime Adventures

Rainbow Pipe Cleaner Sensory Bottle | Mom Inspired Life

Rainbow Button Sensory Bottle | Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tail

Pot of Gold Discovery Bottle | Sunny Day Family

Friendship Thread Calming Sensory Bottle | Sugar Aunts

Rainbow Galaxy Sensory Bottle | Rhythms of Play

Alphabet Rainbow Sensory Bottle | Modern Preschool

Rainbow Polka Dot Discovery Bottle | Still Playing School

Rainbow Glitter Jars - perfect as calm down jars or to use with sensory, math, or science activities

Filed Under: Sensory Tagged With: Colors, Glitter, rainbows, Sensory Bottles

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Comments

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  1. Colleen says

    February 25, 2016 at 12:04 am

    GORGEOUS!!!!

    Reply
  2. Crystal Young says

    February 28, 2016 at 10:28 am

    I am Pro Glitter. You should always leave a little sparkle wherever you go! This are beautiful, I’ll be making them for sure!

    Reply
    • Crystal Young says

      February 28, 2016 at 10:29 am

      Oops, These are beautiful!

      Reply
      • Mary Catherine says

        March 2, 2016 at 5:04 pm

        Thank you so much!!! 🙂

        Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      March 2, 2016 at 5:04 pm

      Glad to have you on the Glitter Side! 😉

      Reply
  3. Susie says

    July 10, 2017 at 12:47 pm

    Does this work with plastic water bottles as well?

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      July 12, 2017 at 12:48 am

      Definitely! I just tend to use whatever bottles we have on hand. Sometimes glass, sometimes plastic.

      Reply
  4. Angela says

    February 11, 2019 at 12:05 pm

    Would this work with hot tap water? Or does it need to be hotter? Working with preschoolers so I would prefer to use tap to keep it safer – assuming it would work!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      February 11, 2019 at 4:17 pm

      Hi Angela, yes tap water is perfect. That’s what we used to make it too (because of the preschoolers, and my own propensity for spilling things). Even if it’s just warm tap water that should work – it will just take a smidge longer to combine. Let me know if you try it out!

      Reply
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My name is Mary Catherine, and I love to share meaningful {and fun} learning activities for kiddos! Feel free to browse and stay awhile!

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