Jello Dig

Joy Manning

If you have a child that enjoys touching slimy textures, is working on fine motor skills, and likes to make a mess, this activity is for you!

I did this activity with my class of 2-year-olds, I also did it with my daughter who was 4 at the time, and it was a hit. This is one of those activities that can turn into multiple activities.

Here are just some ideas you can use to create multiple activities from one main activity.

Go on a treasure hunt looking for objects you can put in the jello.
- Make a list of colors and find objects that are those colors
- Make a picture list and find the matching object
- Find objects of different sizes and compare them
Make the jello together
Do the jello dig
Fill the sink with soapy water, get a washcloth and wash all the objects after the jello dig

You can adapt this activity to include more fine motor experiences, which is good for all young kids to work on.

What are fine motor skills? Fine motor skills are the skills that involve the small muscles of the body. In this activity, that means using the muscles your fingers. Fine motor skills are essential for so many different activities including writing, cutting, zipping, tying, feeding, etc.

Here’s how you can add a little extra fine motor exploration in this activity.

Use small objects (make sure they’re safe for your child’s age and development)
Use different utensils
- Different sized spoons
- Tongs
- Tweezers
Put coins in (if it’s safe for your child), get an old container and put a hole in it for your child to put the coins in after they find them in the jello
Use fingers to dig through the jello

$10.00

Jello Dig Tutorial

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Functional Developmental Levels (FDLs): 1-6

This activity is great for kids at an FDL of: 1-6

The Functional Developmental Levels (FDL) are based on The PLAY Project and DIR/Floortime

FDL 1: Self Regulation & Shared Attention
FDL 2: Engagement & Relating
FDL 3: Intentionality & Two-Way Communication
FDL 4: Social Problem-Solving & Mood Regulation
FDL 5: Creating Symbols & Using Words & Ideas
FDL 6: Emotional Thinking, Logic & Sense of Reality

Stages of Play: 1-6

This activity is great for kids primarily participating in stages: 1-6

The Stages of Play come from Parten’s Stages of Social Play.

Stage 1: Unoccupied Play
Stage 2: Solitary Play
Stage 3: Onlooker Play
Stage 4: Parallel Play
Stage 5: Associative Play
Stage 6: Cooperative Play

Sensory Input: Visual, Tactile, Olfactory

This activity includes: visual, tactile, olfactory

Our senses include more than the usual 5 senses. Some kids may seek certain types of sensory input and/or avoid other types.

Visual: Sight
Auditory: Sound
Olfactory: Smell
Oral: Taste (Gustatory) and using the mouth to speak, make sounds, eat, chew, drink, etc.
Tactile: Touch
Vestibular: How we process information about movement, gravity, and balance. We receive this information through the inner ear.
Proprioceptive: How we process information about body position and body parts. We receive this information through our muscles, ligaments, and joints.

Areas of Development: Communication, Cognitive, Motor

This activity is good for targeting the following developmental skills: communication, cognitive, motor

These are the main areas of child development addressed in the Early Intervention Tutorials

Communication: receptive language, expressive language, listening, two-way communication
Cognitive skills: cause & effect, literacy, math, science, problem solving, perception and concept
Executive functioning: emotional control, flexibility, perseverance, self-monitoring, organization, planning, response inhibition, attention, task initiation, time management, working memory
Motor skills: fine motor, gross motor, perceptual motor
Social-emotional skills: peer interaction, self concept & social role, pretend play, behavior, group activities
Adaptive skills: self-care, personal responsibility

Supplies

3-4 packs of jello
Small toys or objects
bowl
spoon

Instructions

Follow the directions on the pack of Jello
Add small toys/objects in the jello while it is a liquid. Depending on how deep your dish is, you may want to do the jello in layers to disperse the toys.
- make all of the jello
- put half of the jello and toys in the bowl
- refrigerate and let set.
- leave the rest of the jello out of the fridge
- when the jello in the fridge is set, add the rest of the jello and toys
- put it back in the fridge
When the jello has set, give your child a spoon and let him dig for the items
Disclaimer: Young children may choke on small objects, choose objects that will be appropriate for your child. Adult supervision is recommended.

Extra Tips & Ideas

Prepping this activity can make for a quick little extra activity
- Let your child pour and mix the jello ingredients if you feel they will be safe with the hot water.
The first time you do this activity, I would recommend letting your child explore however he wants to. The following are games you could play in the future
- Play a game of I-spy
- Take picture of the toys before you put them in the jello. Print out the pictures, and have your child match the toys with the pictures
- Make cards out of the pictures, and take turns drawing a card and then trying to find the matching toy.

Video Tutorial

Adapting to Different Stages of Play

Stages 1-4

At stages 1-2 kids may not be very interested in other people yet. At stages 3-4, kids are typically starting to be interested in other kids, but aren’t engaging in play with them yet.

Our main focus at stages 1-4 is going to be attention, engagement, and simple circles of communication (even if it’s just 1-3 circles at a time).

GOALS:

Increase attention to one activity
Engage in play with a familiar adult
Initiate wants and needs through words, sounds, gestures, or facial expressions (open circles of communication)
Explore different textures
Increase time participating in parallel play (playing next to a peer with like materials)
Increase natural imitation
Improve fine motor skills

TIPS FOR PLAYING WITH A CHILD AT STAGES 1-4

Parallel play with each other
Imitate what your child is doing rather than making your child imitate you
Narrate what you see and feel. “This green jello is slimy”
Allow your child time to explore without any demands
Make sound effects or use salient language (i.e., “squish, squish, squish” or “stir, stir, stir” or “FISH, I found a FISH”
Use different types of utensils to encourage problem solving and also fine motor skills
The smaller the items in the jello, the more the child has to use her fingers (fine motor skills)

Stages 4-5

These two stages are when kids are starting to be more interested in other kids. They may not be playing cooperatively yet, but they’re playing near each other and playing similar things.

GOALS:

Increase the amount of time participating in an activity next to a peer
Increase circles of communication with adults and peers
Work on sequencing (motor planning) to executive an idea
Participate in simple pretend play. More complex pretend play comes later.
Our goals here are more engagement, pretend play, and circles of communication. Fight the urge to give a lot of instructions, we’re still not working on following directions here.
Increase purposeful interactions
Sustain purposeful interactions for longer periods of time

TIPS FOR STAGES 4-5

Kids that are just beginning to participate in parallel play may not be ready to share yet, and that’s ok. Have separate supplies for each participant.
Have a variety of utensils for your child to try out and explore with. Some examples are: different sized spoons, fork, tweezers, chopsticks, etc.
Kids that are participating more in associative play may be more ready to share some (probably not all) of the supplies. So, have some things to share and some things that each kid can have.
As kids start participating more in parallel play, their imitation skills will typically increase as well. If you only have one child participating, then you can participate too. Try imitating your child, don’t just expect your child to imitate you.
Don’t give too many directions, allow your child to explore and come up with ideas of their own. Make comments about their ideas. You can say things like “wow, I like how you’re using your fingers to find the animals, I’m going to do that too!”
Narrate what you are doing and narrate what your child is doing as well.

Stages 5-6

These stages are when kids are starting to interact more with each other, communicate with each other, and negotiate with each other. This is also when kids start to do more complex pretend play.

GOALS:

Imitate pretend play
Increase time engaged in conversations
Share ideas through conversation
Act as a character in role-play
Create a drama that “make sense” with a beginning, middle, and end
Give a turn to a peer when asked
Ask for a turn

TIPS FOR THESE STAGES

Add a lot of pretend play. Here are some ideas
- Pretend to be a chef in the kitchen
- Pretend to be explorers looking for treasure
- Pretend to be a vet saving the animals
- Pretend to be the animals stuck in the swamp
Allow your child to take the lead with the pretend play, but also throw in your ideas. Make it balanced.
Before you start doing this activity, talk about what you want to do, maybe choose roles (You be the explorer saving the ocean animals stuck in the muck, and I’ll be the animals)
Expand on each others’ ideas throughout the pretend play
Now is the time when it’s ok to ask questions and give some directions. No one likes being bossed around or quizzed during playtime though, so be careful how often you’re doing it. Be purposeful. Don’t ask questions you know the answers to, ask questions to find out what your child is thinking.

Developmental Skills

In this section, I will give you specific examples of what you can do in this activity to address specific areas of development.

Communication skills

Receptive Language

Receptive Language (Understanding language)

For kids who are not using more than 1-2 word sentences independently, use salient language throughout this activity. This means you’re emphasizing certain words, or just using one word as you speak. For example you might say things like “let’s DIG!” “Dig, dig, dig” or “PURPLE, you found PURPLE”
You may want to print and laminate pictures of the things you’ve put in the jello. Then you can play a game to find the matching object. (Playing organized games may not be fun or appropriate for some kids at Stages 1-4)
Give your child choices. Do you want the spoon or the fork?
You can let your child be in charge of the utensils, and then when you need one you can ask for a specific one. “Can I use the spoon please?” This is more natural than saying “point to the spoon” while you’re playing.
For kids who are able to follow directions, work on simple one step or multi-step directions. Just remember to be intentional about what you’re doing, and don’t over do it. Don’t give too many directions.
You can get bowls and categorize the objects you find. You can do it by size, color, shape, food, transportation, etc.

Expressive Language

Expressive Language (Using words, gestures, or writing to express oneself)

For kids who are working on initiating, you could have all the utensils in a closed container. Then wait for your child to initiate that he wants something.
Pretend like the container is too hard to open to increase your circles. Know your child’s limits though, if you do it too much, you may lose the engagement. It’s ok to lose engagement every once in a while though, it allows you to find how far you can stretch the engagements and when to back up. This is supposed to be playful though, so don’t do it to total frustration.
Give choices, and wait for a response. Remember, gestures are a type of expressive language. Give your child’s gestures words. If your child reaches for something, label it.
If your child is able to use 2-3 words, add to their sentences. If your child says “spoon please” then you could repeat “red, spoon please.” If your child finds a fish and says “fish!” you can repeat her and says “big fish!”
If there are certain words you are working on, put those objects in the jello. If you don’t have those objects, print small pictures and laminate them.
If you have a child that is able to use full sentences, then start working on conversation skills.

Cognitive skills

Pre-Math Skills

If your goal is engagement, I would skip the math part. If you have a child who is working on pre-math skills, then go for it. Here are some ideas.
- Use math manipulatives in the jello, there are examples at the bottom of the page
- Sort objects after you find them
  - Color
  - Shape
  - Size
- Find matching objects in the jello
- Find specific objects, then count them together
  - Find all the triangles
  - Find all the red objects
  - Find all the small bears
- Compare the objects
  - Which one has the most?
  - Which has less?
  - Which object is the biggest?
- Pretty much do any math activity you would normally do, but stick it all in jello! It’s engaging and fun and can help increase attention

Perception & Concept

Perception and Concept (Examining differences and similarities)

This goes along with the math skills of comparing sizes, shapes, colors, quantity
You can also compare two objects at a time, or groups of objects
- smooth/bumpy
- tall/short
- long/short
- many/few
- Live in water/land
- Move/stay still
- Inside/Outside Objects

Problem Solving

This activity has some natural problem solving to it.
- Allow your child to figure out how to get the objects without giving direct instructions on how to do it.
- Give options of different utensils, some that will work and some that may not
- Allow your child to explore and experiment
- Narrate how your child is problem solving “You chose the little spoon and are trying to get the big fish, I wonder if that will work? Wow, you got the big fish out with the little spoon, that was a good idea!”

Science

If your goal is engagement, I’d skip the science lesson, but if your child is focusing on academic skills, then this could be a fun lesson.
- Jello is a great little experiment for kids because it goes through different physical changes.
- As you mix the jello talk about the process and predict what’s going to happen
- Talk about the different physical changes the jello goes through. You may want to have multiple packages so you can compare and contrast as the jello changes.
- Compare and contrast the different stages of the jello
  - How they feel
  - How they taste
  - How they look

Motor Skills

Fine Motor Skills

Fine Motor (skills that involve the small muscles of the body)
- Use small objects (make sure they’re safe for your child’s age and development)
- Use different utensils
  - Different sized spoons
  - Tongs
  - Tweezers
- Put coins in (if it’s safe for your child), get an old container and put a slot in it for your child to put the coins in after they find the coins in the jello
- Use fingers to dig through the jello
- Put the powdered jello in a little bowl, and have your child scoop it with teaspoon to put it in the hot water instead of just dumping it in all at once
- Have your child put candles in the jello before starting the dig just for fun

Perceptual Motor Skills

Perceptual Motor (coordinating senses and motor skills to interact with the environment)

–Bilateral Coordination (using both sides of the body together in one activity)

This can be as simple as holding the bowl with one hand and scooping with the other or mixing with the other
You can give your child a cup to hold in one hand and have him scoop jello from the bowl into the cup

–Crossing Midline (moving one limb across midline to the other side of the body)

Put objects all around, encouraging your child to reach for them. If your child has an object in one hand, then put the object on the opposite side of her open hand to reach for.
When you offer things to your child, offer it on the opposite side of the open hand. If both hands are open, then offer two things so that once one hand is occupied you can offer the second object on the opposite side.
Have a big container of jello so that it spans both sides of the body to encourage your child to dig on both side of the container, or have multiple bowls.
If your child is sorting the objects she finds. Put the sorting bowls on one side of the jello bowl, don’t adjust it for your child when he starts to reach (which we’re all prone to do).

–Eye-hand Coordination

Digging for objects using different utensils is great for eye-hand coordination

–Motor Planning (being able to perform a sequence of movements to complete a task)

This is similar to the problem solving. Let your child explore and figure out what will work and what won’t work. You want to give your child opportunities to create a plan and follow through with it, even if you don’t know what that plan is

–Visual-Spatial Perception (being able to tell where objects are in a defined space)

This is a great activity for visual-spatial perception. The objects are in a defined space in the jello, and your child has to figure out how to reach that object and dig it out of that space.