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The Jello Fishbowl for Kids
Once we had made the sandcastle my daughter was all about another jello project. I was trying to think of something that could be easily contained and decided on trying to make a jello fishbowl. There are lots of examples of this on the internet and I took some suggestions from different places and made up my own recipe. My daughter happens to love anything blue so this was the perfect project for her. To start off with we selected blue jello from the market. I would’ve like to have used light blue jello, but it was out of stock so we used the berry blue color. Then we chose jelly beans for the rocks and swedish fish for the inhabitants. Then we brought everything home and got to work.
The hardest part about making the jello fishbowl is time. Jello takes time to set and you can’t assemble this all at one. We decided to use a large jar for the fish tank and I filled it with the jello. I placed it in the fridge for an hour to cool down. Then we took it out and poured in the jelly beans to serve as rocks. It is critical that the jello is cooled by this point or else the hot liquid would dissolve the candy coating of the beans. Then I placed the jar back in the fridge for another three hours before inserting the Swedish fish with toothpicks. The jello was nearly fully set, but not quite. I found that placing the fish on the tips of toothpicks and pushing them down into the jello worked best. Longer skewers could be used as well.
We then placed the jello back in the fridge to finish setting and it was all good after a final two hours. After that I took some pictures, invited some friends over and let the kids devour the entire thing.
*Note, I made this fishbowl with my pre-school age daughter. More complicated designs and candy can easily be inserted into the jello for a more in depth design. The key is to make sure the jello is not too hot when you insert candy so the sugar does not get dissolved.
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7 Comments
[...] And finally, when was the last time you found a recipe that’s part craft project? That’s how I’d describe this Jello Fishbowl for Kids, featuring gummy fish swimming in a sea of blue gelatin. This is a must save to do with my daughter when she gets a little bigger. What a great way to get the kids working beside you in the kitchen! (Babble / The Family Kitchen blog) [...]
Don't forget the fish and veggies -- for dessert | Smart Living Blog commented on Aug 22 11 at 10:39 amJohn D. commented on Aug 17 11 at 4:34 pmOh wow, that is cute! What a clever and fun idea!
rachael commented on Aug 18 11 at 8:42 amSuch a cute and great idea! I will have to keep in mind for Halloween….the petrie (Sp?) dishes with orange jello would be great. What is the difference though in regular goldfish crackers and sweedish fish?
lisa commented on Aug 18 11 at 11:07 amRachel, Swedish fish are candy. Goldfish are crackers.
Stella commented on Aug 18 11 at 12:20 pmCan you use gummie candies instead of the fishes?
Kelsey/TheNaptimeChef commented on Aug 18 11 at 1:19 pmHi Rachael, Swedish fish are gummy candy, that is what I used. I would not recommend goldfish crackers. I think they would be really soggy and wouldn’t taste very good.
TheNaptimeChef commented on Aug 18 11 at 2:16 pmYes, Stella! Most kind of gummy candies would work!
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