Last week we went a little crazy and had some fun with Jello play. It was messy & sticky and smelled amazing like only raspberry and lime gelatin can. Summer Elizabeth loved playing out in the front yard scooping Jello from container to container, throwing it into the air, and squishing it around with her little toddler fingers. I liked eating it…before it was coated in grass. Amazingly enough, Summerbeth didn’t even attempt a nibble for at least 40 minutes into playtime!
Of course, after our afternoon of gooey sticky fun, I have a few helpful tips to make Jello play most enjoyable & easy to clean up:
- Add less water to gelatin than the package recommends. It’ll be sturdier for play.
- Use unflavored gelatin. Mix it with water & food coloring. —> No sugary stickiness!
- Jello play works best in messes-don’t-matter zones, like the yard or a room with tile flooring.
- Have damp washcloths or wet wipes on hand near the play area so you don’t have to touch doorknobs with Jello’d fingers at clean up time.
- Time Jello play around bathtime. That way you can just scoop up your toddler, stick him in the bathtub, and suds him right up.
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Linking here: Pinning for Play
That looks like fun! I reckon Oliver would go nuts over jello play (any excuse to make mess!) – storing this one away for summer!
Great! Sure hope you remember, because this one is a whole lot of fun. It’s also a great excuse to eat a little Jello (if you don’t use the less-mess method.) Thanks for visiting, as always, Luana.
I wish I had those wonderful ideas when my boys were growing!
Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure that at least one of your boys still enjoys these activities 😉
I think the jello play looks like fun! I am putting this on my list to do with Violet!
CUTE idea! I will totally have to use that…I bet we could even use it in a tub not filled with water…how easy would that clean up be? 😉
Using a baby tub was my first intention, but then I realized the bowls I’d used for the Jello were too big to fit in alongside my baby. In cold climates, I’d definitely try it though. The yard just happened to be the easiest route for us.
So, Lucas and Elena would LOVE this. But I think Elena might last two minutes before she started eating it. Definitely something to do right before bathtime. 🙂
Hope you’re able to try it out soon! If you go with the flavorless gelatin, maybe she wouldn’t be as anxious to eat it. I’ve gotta say though, the flavor and scent of the Jello were certainly mama pleasers at my house 🙂
Totally looks like fun and thanks for sharing. Have linked up as usual and thanks for hosting as always!! 🙂
What a great idea! And pretty easy clean up!
Besides wiping down the baby, clean up really isn’t too bad. It kept baby entertained a long time, so was definitely worth washing a few dishes.
It’s amazing how much your little cutie looks like mom!
I wanted to let you know that we have moved our blog to http://faithfulmomof9.com I hope you’ll come along with us!
You know, you’re one of the only people to say Summer looks like me 😉 She is cutie, that’s all I know! Thanks for letting me know about your move.
How fun!! I never thought of this when my girls were young, but I’m going to file this away for something to do with future grandkids. Grandma will be a hit!!
Haha. It’s always fun to go to Grandma’s house, isn’t it? You will be a rockstar for the kids when you let them play with Jello! It’s like a tame food fight, I guess you could say 😉
I can not wait to try this once it gets warmer here! I just bought two books on things to do with your toddler since she’s turning one next week and I just want to keep her mind active while having fun in the process! I probably could have just scoured numerous mommy blogs for this information instead :)!!!
I have seen some wonderful toddler activity link-ups that motivated me to try this. For starters, I’d recommend checking out Tuesday Tots over at Learn with Play at Home. There are some great playtime learning activities linked up there every week. Thanks for stopping by, Nicole!
Awww such a fun idea I LOVE the pics
XO
Thanks, Ashlee. It was really tough to choose photos for this post because between Husband and I, we practically had a 30 min. photo shoot. Thanks for stopping by today.
Oh how fun! We just love Jello play. Thank you for sharing at our Pinning for Play link party!