Wednesday, June 30, 2010

painting with Jello - reader submission

I had 5 bored kids at my house today, so we pulled out this little gem of an idea "scent" by our reader Lisa of Rainy Tuesday Mornings. Have you ever thought of adding powdered gelatin to your artwork? The colors are vibrant and the kids love smelling their paintings! I had stocked up on Jello when it was on sale the other day, and we had all the colors we needed for a "sweet" art project. I followed Lisa's instructions with the following changes: we used plain paper, Mod Podge (instead of Elmer's glue), and wide foam brushes. And I definitely agree with the idea of making this an outdoor activity. Oh, and I should mention, it's probably best for an adult to be the one adding the "color." My kids didn't seem to mind--it gave them a chance to sneak tastes of the excess Jello when I wasn't looking! Here are the creations of James, Adam, Meg, and Riley--budding artists with great "taste" in color!

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And now for this week's reader submission:
Art In the Park (with Jell-o)

Finished Project!

My friend Natalie hosted an amazing "Art in the Park" activity for all our friends and kids. She brought all the supplies to make a great smelling piece of art using Jell-O and glue.

Supplies Needed:
  1. Fruit Bowl (click to download)
  2. Jell-O in these flavors: Strawberry, Pineapple, Grape, Raspberry, Lime, Lemon, Orange, Cherry & Banana
  3. Elmers Glue (or generic brand)
  4. Paintbrush for each child
  5. Paper cups or other similar item to hold each flavor of Jell-O
  6. Paper cup or other similar item to hold the glue

Directions:

  1. Print out your Fruit Bowl (one for each child) and have them color the bowl any color they want.
  2. Color the stems & leaves of the fruit green.
  3. Pour some glue in a paper cup
  4. Pour each flavor of Jell-O in it's own paper cup (NOT with the glue and don't mix the flavors). Label your cups! Many of the Jell-O's are the same color, but not the same scent.
  5. Take your paintbrush and dip it in the glue cup.
  6. Paint ONE fruit at a time (for the orange you can paint both). After the entire fruit is covered with glue, pour the matching scent of Jell-O onto your fruit. Pour any excess back into the cup.
  7. Repeat with each fruit until it's covered.
  8. Smell and enjoy!
Thanks, Lisa!

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12 Comments

12 Responses to “painting with Jello - reader submission”

Shary said...

Oh what fun! We'll have to try this out this summer; thanks for sharing!

organicmommy said...

how incredibly fun, thanks for sharing this with us

hopeE said...

using cool aid also works. you just add about 1 tbs. water to a pkg. of cool aid. The colors are not as vibrant but it smells heavenly AND your paints are scratch 'n sniff paintings forever. I found one the other day that my daughter painted in Kindergarten, she is just entering 9th grade, and it still smells wonderfully!

Rossyl said...

love this - and the art work is inspiring. gonna go out and get me some JELLO..

rossane

Unknown said...

This is awesome - love that you substituted Mod Podge ;p

Stephanie said...

how flippin fun is that?! i don't even have kids and i'm ready to try it!! ;) i'm just scared i might not be able to restrain myself from eating it...

lisbonlioness said...

Shame I have no kids, I just had an idea for a game where they (my imaginary kids- Erin, Shannon, Scott and Clyde) have to guess smells like, dunno, nutmeg, oranges, cheese and stuff like that. Would someone like to borrow me their offspring to try it?
Love the idea for "smelly" artwork, is it safe for grownups? :D

Nina @ Momma Go Round said...

Such a cute idea! It's like making your own scratch and sniff painting, but better!

Anonymous said...

never thought to use jello! i have done this many time with my preschool and grade school students at church for Fruit of the Spirit lessons with kool aid. they always enjoy it and the parents always comment on how nice it smells.

Faith Pray said...

I used pudding mix for my three year-old twins' first finger painting medium. It was a delicious project, but a month later when I broke out real finger paint and only mentioned "we don't eat THIS paint" once.
Minutes later one of my daughters was throwing up blue paint. Ha. I have not tried food as art since.

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Oh how fun! Thanks so much to both of you for the fun idea. I'll be linking.

Unknown said...

its great to paint flowers with kool aide/jello paint....makes flowers that actually smell good!!

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