Jelly in a Tin

This is a fantastic sensory activity to encourage your little one to explore different textures. It a great activity for young babies and for older children. My little one can at times be a fussy eater with trying new and unusual textures. Messy play is a great way for children to experiment and feel more comfortable with different foods.

My son and I did this activity when I was still worried about how much sugar he was eating. As he’s got older and I am considerable more tired, the rules have relaxed somewhat. For this activity I made my own jelly. When I repeat the activity now I just buy shop bought jelly. It is up to you what you want to use.

Set Up

This is an activity that is quick and easy to prepare but you will need to prepare the jelly either the evening or morning before, When I made my own jelly, I used the Dr.Oetker gelatine sachet which you can buy in any supermarket and followed the instructions on the back of the pack. I added the food colouring to the water before I added the gelantine.

I lined the tin with aluminum foil to make the activity look more visually appealing.

I did this activity on the floor but this activity could be easily done in a high chair if your little one isn’t confident sitting or moving around yet.

My little one was hesitant to touch the jelly with his fingers. He did not want to go anywhere near it. And then I remembered that I had taught a young boy who didn’t like to touch unusual textures. So he’d either wear a pair of washing up gloves or use cutlery to explore the messy play. Therefore I sung ‘jelly in a tin’ and then I added the spoon to encourage my little to explore and move the jelly around the tin. He was very happy to move the jelly around on the spoon.

The singing and spoon worked and he started exploring the jelly with his hands. His facial expressions were incredible as he stuck his fingers further into the jelly.

For little ones this activity is great for exploring different textures and for older ones it is great for teaching colours.

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