Bonus Boy and I indulged ourselves a bit yesterday and made some pond jelly!
It’s very easy to make and, if you like jelly, delicious to eat. I loathe the stuff personally but he loves it!
To Make Pond Jelly You Will Need
A small to medium glass bowl
One packet of vegetarian jelly crystals (we used tropical here but lemon would do just as well)
Dried apricots
Tinned apricot or peach halves
A handful of currants or raisins
Veggie jelly beans
Ready made regal ice
A few drops of green food colouring (suitable for vegetarians)
I’m not a big fan of food colouring and it is only usually in our cupboards for science experiments BUT I found one by Sainsbury’s which is suitable for vegans and contains no hidden nasties! I was so chuffed! I still didn’t use much of it though 😉
We started by cutting our dried apricots into fish shapes.
Next we placed our tinned apricot halves in the bottom of our bowl as ‘rocks’
and he scattered in some jelly beans as ‘pebbles’
I made the jelly up by adding a pint of boiling water to the crystals and stirring until they dissolved. I poured a third of the jelly over the rocks and we put it in the freezer for 3-5 minutes to cool quickly and set a bit.
We scattered a few currant ‘tadpoles on the almost set jelly surface and poured in a bit more jelly before popping it back in the freezer for a few more minutes.
The ‘fish’ went in next, against the side of the bowl to give them some support, the last of the jelly poured gently over them and then into the fridge for a final set. I LOVE how this one set with bubbles!
While the jelly was setting we quickly made some lily pads. We squidged two drops of food dye into a piece of regal icing and then divided it into pieces which he rolled into balls
We squashed them into flat discs, marked them with a knife like pizzas and cut out one piece. They worked rather well!
Of course, you could really go to town and add all sorts of extra pond life. What do you think our pond needs?
You do need to eat this on the day it is made if you want to enjoy it in pristine condition. By day two the icing and the sweets do go a bit splodgy!
Such a great idea! I love this – I think Kitty and Ozzy would too, I’ll be showing them when they get home!
Hoorah! I hope they love it! Bonus Boy was very excited by the whole thing!
Love it, love it!!! So clever you are!!! 🙂
*blushes*, thank you! 🙂
That looks like fun x
It was! x
Woah this is ace! Little Small wants a fish or dinosaur theme for his birthday – I definitely think I’ll be giving this a go! 😀 Blummin clever lady you are. x
Aw, thanks lovely! My top tip would be make it on the day, the sweets and icing go a bit splodgy by day two 🙂 (Apparently they still taste delicious though, ‘they melt in my mouth Mummy’
This is such a sweet idea. We will absolutely be making pond jelly in this house!
I am so pleased! 🙂 xxx
What a fab idea!
It is messy play with a purpose…totally perfect in my books.
Seems a shame to eat it after all that! They look far too good to munch on 🙂
Ab fab. Natty and Mia will love this. So glad you included a side profile view too. H x
Oh Chris, I LOVE this!! We may just have to make a frog and tadpole version!!!!
Thanks for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!
Maggy
🙂 I did think about making frog biscuits to dip in the pond 😉
Love this idea, even I like that make of jelly and I’m not a fan of jelly particularly. We do worm jelly for Halloween but this will be a fun spring/summer activity and treat! I may substitute the the jelly beans for blue berries and the icing for melon so it can be a more frequent thing. ( My son doesn’t generally drink much and
jelly is good hidden fluid)!
Good plan! We were saying how much nicer it would be with fruity bits and will be redoing it when the raspberries and redcurrants are ripe! I love the idea of melon as lily pads! 🙂
This is so clever Chris!!! I made a dirt cake once (chocolate cake ‘iced’ in oreo crumbs, with gummy worms winding in and out and some herbs ‘planted’ in the top) for my nature boy step son, and I know he’d love this. This kind of food is so fun (to make AND eat)!
OHHHH!Fab idea for a cake! Do you have photos? 🙂
What a great idea! Love the tiny fish and lilly pads! 🙂
I love this!!
The lily pads are inspired. x
A thousand thank YOUs for the link to vegetarian jellies!! We have trouble sourcing them here in the suburban fringe (land of Oz), and have only had the fab selection of “raspberry” to choose from… Hopefully I will now be able to buy more flavours for my Fab Five to try, and come summer, this awesome little Make & Taste craft will certainly be topping the list! Thanks for sharing this cute idea!
Aw Shanti thank YOU! What a lovely comment, I’m delighted to have been of service! 🙂