Use jelly tablets or crystals, but read the ingredients on the packet and check for allergies before introducing either to the children.
ORGANISATION
A large flat container is ideal for exploring jelly, as children can crawl up to or sit next to it. Alternatively, present it on a highchair tray. It is best to remove all a child's clothing apart from a nappy and have facilities ready to wash or bath children - playing with jelly is sticky as well as messy.
Present the jelly mixture in one of the following ways:
- use several packets of jelly, mixed as instructed, to create enough to cover the base of a clean builder's tray
- make several bowls of more solid jelly in different colours by using less water, and turn them out at intervals across the tray
- fill moulds of different shapes with a standard jelly mix and turn them out into the tray, with plenty of space between
- mix the jelly with extra water to create a runny, sticky mixture.
ADULT ROLE: MODEL, COMMENT AND OBSERVE
- As you explore the jelly in the tray, model actions such as bouncing your hand lightly off the surface of the jelly.
- Repeat words to describe actions and sounds you are making, for example, 'Pat, pat, pat', 'Bounce, bounce, bounce'.
- Encourage the children to explore freely. If necessary, model new actions, such as sliding a hand across the smooth surface or poking a finger into it.
- When exploring the upturned bowls of jelly, encourage the children to feel the curves over the surface before gently patting the jelly to make it wobble, saying 'Wobble, wobble, wobble', as you do so.
- Introduce the tray with moulded jellies, mentioning colour and shape as the children explore freely.
- Throughout the activities, model actions, observe children and note relevant comments they make so that you can record their learning. Take photographs and display them with an appropriate explanation, along with children's comments, so parents develop an understanding of the learning that has taken place.
WHAT NEXT?
- Put small plastic balls and blocks into the jelly before it sets so that children can discover them as they feel the set jelly. Do the same with plastic animals and fish.
- Make a lemon jelly in a bowl and add chopped soft fruit, such as peaches, grapes and raspberries. Turn the jelly out and look at the fruit inside with the children before they begin to explore and taste it.
- Make up the jelly with half the quantity of water and leave to cool before making up the required amount of liquid using milk (check for allergy). Present children with a milk and plain strawberry jelly to explore.
- Try 'jelly painting' by taping some paper to the floor and dropping blobs of jelly on to it so children can make marks.
- Explore 'jelly sounds'. Make a jelly 'squelch' by scooping solid jelly out of a bowl with a spoon, or 'splat' by dropping a lump from a height.