Jello Dig!

I’m always looking for something different & fun to do with my little guy, who is 12 months (adjusted).  When I spotted some summer sensory play ideas online, I KNEW we would have to try a “Jello dig.”  I also knew this had the potential to be a crazy sticky mess… so I waited for the weather to be nice enough to take the fun outside where it’d be easier to hose down for cleanup!

Here’s how to prep for your own Summer Sensory Play Jello Dig!

Grab a box of gelatin mix and prepare it like normal.  (I used a small box –> 3 oz, if you use a bigger box, also grab a larger dish!)  Using an 8x8″ square Pyrex dish, pour the mixture in, place it in the refrigerator, then set an alarm for 1 hour. (The normal time for this gelatin to set, according to the box, is 4 hours)

After 1-1.5 hours of the gelatin mixture being in the refrigerator, remove it, and add a variety of toys that are easy to clean after.  Then, place the mixture back in the refrigerator for a few more hours until it is fully set.

When we did this activity, it was a particularly hot day, so we actually got our swimsuits on, filled the kiddie pool with a few inches of water, and did the Jello dig right in the pool! 

My little guy had a lot of fun digging out a couple of toys in the beginning!  But, he isn’t one to make big messes, so perhaps other kids would get more into it than he did.   All was going well until he retrieved a pacifier from the Jello… and put it in his mouth. He was NOT pleased that it had Jello on it, so that was the end of our activity, haha.  We ended up splashing around in the pool for a while and then cleaning up!  (I drained the water and rinsed out the pool – pretty simple clean up)

I definitely plan to do this summer sensory play activity again in the future!  

Original post by Christie on 6/18/20