Baby Play with Gelatin

I love that there are so many simple sensory activities that are baby safe! N loves them, too, all of them!

For this one, I took some inspiration from our Insects in Jello activity that E did about two years ago and simplified it for N.

I simply placed a LEGO Duplo cow in some plain gelatin, and once the gelatin had set, I put the whole thing into a baking dish on top of a towel and let N explore.

While this activity does require a tiny bit of planning ahead, it’s still my favorite kind of sensory play: Very basic, and it takes five minutes to set up – even if those five minutes are spread over two days 😉

{We expanded on the idea with the leftover gelatin HERE.}

 

(N was 10 months old.)

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Materials for Baby Play with Gelatin

• Gelatin.
• Water.
• Baking dish, tray or cookie sheet.
• Plastic animal (optional). {We had the calf from this LEGO Duplo farm.}

 

I kinda eyeballed the amount of water to add to the gelatin because apparently, the manufacturer doesn’t expect you to just make plain gelatin. There were no instructions on the box.

It firmed up okay, but when I took it out of the bowl I’d used as a mold, it fell apart a little. No big deal, of course.

 

 

N was very cautious at first but couldn’t help but reach for the calf.

 

 

He pulled it out along with some of the gelatin and took some time inspecting it.

 

 

Tasting the gelatin was part of the exploration – but he did not like it.

 

 

He really liked that calf – he held on for dear life while he played with the gelatin 🙂

First, he felt and squeezed the gelatin,

 

 

 

 

then he started pushing it around the baking dish at warp speed.

 

 

Plain gelatin isn’t sticky, so it makes a great sensory material for babies. You could use food coloring to dye it if you prefer to add some color to the activity.

We ended up with some of the gelatin on the towel, but none off it, and it was very easy to clean up.

 

Have you tried sensory play with gelatin or jello? Leave a comment below!

 

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